Meyer University
by Sh.C
Summary: Bella moves to college where she meets and befriends the Cullens and Hales. Edward Cullen goes through many girls he meets Bella & sees something he likes. Much better Summary Inside. All Human. Adventure, mystery, humor & of course,a little romance! AU
1. Moving In

**Summary****: Bella Swan moves to Meyer University, an ivy-league university where her grandmother and a few other generations of her family attended. While looking for a connection to her family she uncovers a secret involving her new friends and her family…**

**She also meets and befriends the Cullens and the Hales, among them Edward Cullen, a beautiful boy who seems to really like the ladies. Can she stop herself from falling for a guy who seems to go through girls like a box of kleenex? Has Edward finally found the perfect girl? **

**Stephenie Meyer owns characters and such, so don't sue. Thanks.**

* * *

OK. It's here. Today is the day I move to college. 

"You have everything you need, Bells?" Charlie asked me for the millionth time.

"Yes, dad," I assured him yet again, "my roommate and I are going shopping for all the necessities in a little while."

I didn't admit how nervous I was about this part. I hadn't met my roommate yet and she wasn't in the room when Charlie and I brought all of my stuff up (which wasn't much). I always heard horror stories from my friends' older siblings about their college roommate freaks. Supposedly, they seem normal at first, but soon they're stealing your stuff and drinking themselves sick.

It had been my lifelong goal to get into Meyer University, a very prestigious ivy-league school in northern Pennsylvania. From what I remember of my mother (she passed away when I was 8), she'd always told me about _her_ mother who'd gone to Meyer and how she always regretted not going to college. It had been a family tradition in her family to go to Meyer University and each generation had apparently had a fantastic time. I didn't know my mother's parents, they died shortly after she married my father, but I'd always felt like I was missing out of something, like I wanted to connect with them somehow.

For as long as I can remember it'd just been me and my dad, Charlie. After Renee, my mother, died, he seemed to have lost a huge part of himself. I missed my mother dearly, and I've always felt that if I could connect to her side of the family, then maybe, I can find some part of her. It may sound dumb, but that's how I feel.

"So are you sure you don't need me to stick around?" asked Charlie.

I rolled my eyes, "Dad, we've been through this already. I'll be fine."

He smiled at me, "I guess I'm just trying to delay the inevitable."

I gave him a really big hug, "I'll miss you dad."

"I'll miss you too Bells. Try not to have too much fun."

I laughed and rolled my eyes at that, "Dad, you know I'm not a party girl."

"Yea, but college can have that affect on people."

"Don't worry, I'll be good." I promised, "I love you, daddy."

My father blinked a few times, his face getting slightly red, a trait I'd inherited from him, "I love you too, Bella."

--

* * *

I parked my new car (a surprise gift from Charlie for getting accepted into the Meyer University Architecture program with a full scholarship) in the student lot in back of my dorm building. I was so excited to have gotten a spot in the coveted honors dorms. Each dorm was very spacious, had a very nice looking private bathroom to be shared with your roommate and had a window seat! I went back up to my room where my roommate had already arranged her furniture on her side of the room and had set mine up too.

Each side was identical with wooden furniture. The window seat was in the very center of the room. There was an extra-long twin sized bed on each side of the room with a small wooden chest of 3 drawers on next to each bed. Each side had a very large wooden wardrobe and a wooden desk and chair.

I was so excited to be here, I almost shrieked. My grandmother had gone to this school. She had lived in this very building, as had her father before her and his father before him. I felt more connected to Renee than ever, like I belonged here.

_I just hope people like me_, I thought to myself as I unpacked my clothes, separating my workout clothes from my everyday clothes. I was on the soccer team back home and was hoping to join the one here, so I packed clothes for training. The summer had left me out of practice. Fortunately, I had until next semester to get back into shape.

Soon the door opened and a large box came through; it was being carried by a short pixie-like girl. She didn't seem to notice me standing there as she went to her side and dropped the box with a huge thud on her side on the room.

"Hi," I said softly, unable to stop being nervous, "are you Alice?"

She turned around and addressed me with wildly excited light green eyes, "Yea, you must be Bella," she came over with her hand outstretched to me. She smiled brilliantly. She was probably the prettiest girl I'd ever seen with very pale skin, short black hair and perfect small, angular features.

"Yea," I shook her hand and smiled, "nice to meet you finally."

"You too!" she smiled excitedly, "I can't believe we're finally here!"

"I know!" I said, voicing my excitement for the first time. "So do you need help bringing in more stuff?"

"Actually, I do have 2 more boxes waiting in my car."

"Lead the way."

We carried the two boxes out of her car and were waiting for the elevator when I noticed a beautiful bronze haired boy with his arms around another girl's waist. They were in a heavy lip-lock right outside the front door.

"Ugh!" Alice wrinkled her nose, "can't they get a room or something."

I laughed at her disgusted expression as we grabbed the elevator and dropped the boxes off in our room. There was a stunning blonde girl in our room leaning against Alice's bed. She had perfect features like Alice, but she was very tall, and had a body that belonged in a Victoria's Secret catalog.

"Hey Rose," Alice greeted her, "Bella, this is my friend Rosalie. Rosalie, meet my new roommate Bella."

I extended my hand to her and she took it gracefully, giving me a friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you Bella."

"You too." I smiled back. "Are you on this floor?"

"Yea, I have a single this year. I'm a sophomore." She explained. "Actually, I was wondering if I could crash on your shopping trip? I'm missing a few necessities."

"That's cool with me," Alice grabbed her purse. "Are you ready Bella?"

I grabbed my small purse and new dorm key, "All set. Do you guys want to take my car? I have an SUV, so we can probably fit more stuff in there."

Alice and Rosalie followed me out to my light blue Nissan X-terra. Before we could leave the building, I saw the same bronze haired boy, without the girl this time. I felt my jaw drop. He wasn't just beautiful, he was gorgeous! He had the most striking face… it was almost angelic. His emerald green eyes sparkled as he flashed a smile to some other girl, clearly flirting.

"That's Edward," Alice said, noticing where my eyes were staring, "he's my brother."

"Oh," I didn't know what else to say. "Wasn't he just making out with some other girl?"

Alice and Rosalie laughed, "Yea, he does that a lot. Be careful, you seem like a nice girl, and Edward likes a challenge." Rosalie warned as we walked towards my car.

"Yea, you'll meet him later." Alice said, "He's really a good guy, but he enjoys flirting. You just have to get to know him."

That was the _last_ thing I was planning on doing, I thought to myself. I'd met guys like him before, and I wasn't interested.

* * *

**Ok, this is my first, alternate universe type story, so sorry if it sucks. If you don't like it, sorry. But if you do, I'm glad! Please review because it makes me happy :)  
**


	2. Shopping and Hellos

There were no words to describe shopping with Alice and Rosalie.

Actually, I take that back, there three words that come to mind: funny, crazy and exhausting.

Alice and Rosalie both have amazing taste in décor, but they're completely different. Rosalie is all about elegance and grandeur while Alice is has a more modern chic, quirky style. They contradicted each other on pretty much everything.

" Alice you simply _cannot_ put that poster up in your room." Rosalie exclaimed as Alice picked up a poster of reddish orbs in a pink haze.

"It's abstract!" Alice argued.

"Yea, it's an abstract look at the inside of a uterus!" Rosalie turned to me, "Bella, would you want that in your room?"

But as I was holding my sides in hysterical laughter, I couldn't answer her right away.

"Well, if I could deal with posters of a soccer ball and some weird guys, then she can deal with my artistic one," Alice reasoned in mock anger, pointing to the two posters I had chosen for my side of the room.

"Okay, okay," I said, trying to regulate my breaths again, "that poster is from an album belonging to one of my favorite bands. But, I'll leave the soccer poster if you leave the uterus."

"It's NOT a uterus!!" Alice stomped her foot while Rosalie cracked up, "but fine, it's a deal."

We went through each department, getting everything we needed, including the same terrycloth bathrobes and matching slippers (Alice's in pink, Rosalie's in red and mine in aquamarine). I'd never had any real girlfriends that I'd go shopping with, usually I just avoided shopping at all costs unless it was absolutely necessary, but this was actually fun … as long as they didn't make a habit out of it. I was shocked at the level of detail they put into every item, even when we got to toiletries, they insisted on getting four different scented body washes and the corresponding body lotions. The argument was that you never knew what you were going to feel like on each given day. I quickly learned to stay out of their way, mostly I ended up being the tie breaker in their arguments.

In the end, Alice and I had each gotten 2 sets of the softest sheets I'd ever felt, duvets and really soft, jersey duvet covers (hers in light lavender, mine in an ocean blue), a decent sized, black mini fridge, and a microwave. Alice insisted on large lavender area rug and two comfy disk chairs (light pink and light blue).

Once we bought all of our necessities, it took a long time to pack in all into my car so it would fit. We had to tie two new mattresses to the roof of it (Alice and Rosalie both argued that we couldn't sleep on _used_ mattresses, Rosalie still had hers from last year so she didn't need one.)

It took forever to get everything upstairs and in order. Rosalie had gotten the resident advisor on our floor to get the old mattresses away and she helped us set up. Once it was done, everything looked so cozy. Our beds looked so fluffy and warm that I wondered how I'd ever get up for classes.

There was a knock on our door and a huge, burly guy came in followed by Alice's brother Edward.

"Hey, are you guys hungry?" asked the big one, letting himself in. He was extremely handsome, with dark, wavy hair and light green eyes like Alice. He had adorable dimples on his face.

_Are there any normal looking people at this school_? I wondered to myself.

"Yea, I'm starving." Rosalie said, "Bella, this is my boyfriend, Emmett. And this is Edward. They are both Alice's brothers."

"Nice to meet you," Emmett smiled at me, shaking my hand.

"Likewise," I smiled back.

Edward flashed me a brilliant smile, enough to drive most girls wild, but his previous actions still registered in my head and warned me not to get too close. I shook his hand politely, returning his smile though with much less enthusiasm.

"Hello, Edward."

"Nice to meet you, Bella," he said, shaking my hand. "Are you joining us for dinner?"

"Bella, come on, we have to see whether the cafeteria food is edible," Alice pointed out.

"It is," Emmett cut in, "come check it out."

"Sure, thanks."

--

* * *

The dining hall was huge! Of course I'd seen it before when I came here for orientation, but I'd forgotten how pretty it was. There were so many different types of food everywhere and the dining space was vast, bright and luxuriously decorated. 

Emmett, Rosalie and Alice's boyfriend Jasper (who met us at the dining hall) were all sophomores. Jasper and Rosalie Hale were fraternal twins. Both the Hale and the Cullen siblings had followed in their family's footsteps when they decided to attend Meyer University.

"What about you, Bella?" Jasper asked me, "Are you the first in your family to attend?"

"No," I shook my head, "my grandmother and her father both attended. As did his father before him and a few others way back. My mother, I think, was the only one not to attend."

"Is that what made you come here?" Edward asked, seeming intrigued, for some reason.

"Actually, yea. I'm hoping to find out more about my family somehow. They were all in some fraternity or something like that, my mom told me once, but it's all kind of a mystery. I'm really hoping to find something on them sooner or later."

"I don't remember having heard the surname 'Swan' much."

"You wouldn't have. 'Swan' is my father's name. My mother's maiden name was Hayden, as was my grandmothers. She had this thing about keeping her last name."

I thought I noticed Jasper and Emmett exchange looks but I forgot about it immediately as a group of girls walked towards us, eyes locked on Edward.

"Uh-oh, Edward," Alice mocked, "you have a fan club already, it seems. But I would appreciate it if you would entertain them in your room instead of in public. I didn't need to see your gross PDA this morning."

Edward grinned mischievously, "Woops. I was just saying goodbye to an old friend."

"Dana again?" Emmett raised his eyebrows.

"No, Dina," Edward corrected.

Alice rolled her eyes, "it's _Donna_, and haven't you said goodbye to her like 5 times already this summer?"

Edward smirked, "Come on, Bella's going to get the wrong idea!" He smiled at me.

"Oh, I think I've got a pretty good gist of it, thanks." I said acerbically. They all laughed at that, except Edward, who scowled.

I recognized two of the girls in the group, a blonde and a curly haired brunette; both lived in our building. They were both whispering to the others, staring at our table.

"OK, I'm so done here," Rosalie glared at the girls, who looked away quickly "I don't enjoy feeling like I'm in a zoo."

We all left the dining hall and headed off towards Mason Hall, our dorm.

--

* * *

**I'm surprised with how many alerts I've gotten already, but I'm not receiving any reviews. Please review, it really helps and speeds up the writing process. **


	3. One Seriously Demented Guy

**I'm thrilled that so many of you find it interesting! Thank you so much for the support!**

**And to those who were curious, yes, Meyer University is a completely fictional ivy-league school.**

--

* * *

The first week of school was hard, but fun. Classes in college all seemed to have a point. They were all so interesting.

I was thrilled on my first day in the architecture building. Each architecture student got their own workspace in a cubicle shared with one other person for the entire semester. It was so professional looking.

"_More_ drafting materials?" Alice asked me as I walked through the door of our room carrying a shopping bag with supplies.

"Hey, at least I don't need a textbook for this class," I joked. I'd been buying drafting materials almost everyday this week. I would always find that I was missing something. "I think this may have been my last trip though. I'm pretty sure I have everything now."

"Let's hope so. You have almost everything in the art supply store!" she laughed, shaking her head. "So are you ready for your first college party?"

"No!" I said, firmly, "I'm most definitely not a party girl. Besides, we have a paper due on Monday for art history 101."

Alice and I were both in art type majors and we had a couple of intro classes together. Alice was a Fashion Design and Merchandising major.

"Yes, but that's_Monday_. The party is on a _Saturday_. And you need to socialize. It's your freshman year and I will not let you be a social outcast. Besides, I'm almost done with my paper and I _know_ you just have final touches to do, so no excuses."

For such a small person, Alice had a lot of power. I always found myself caving in to her.

"Whatever."

"Yay!" She squealed in excitement, "You won't regret it, Bella, I promise!"

--

* * *

I got out of the gym on Saturday morning and decided to jog home considering the light rain. I'd spent my summer lounging around and reading so I seriously needed to get in shape for soccer tryouts, but those weren't until spring term so I had time.

I wasn't paying attention to were I was going and I slammed into someone accidentally, the crash made me fall back on my butt.

"Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry!" I struggled to get to my feet until a hand came out, helping me up.

"You should really watch where you're going, Bella," I looked up to see a very amused Edward Cullen. "You could've killed me."

"Yea, except I'm the one on the ground and you're the one left unscratched, so I'm thinking you're going to be fine." His hand felt strong around mine as he helped me to my feet.

He laughed, "so what are you doing up this early?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" I felt bad for responding so harshly, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Do you always jog this early?"

"Sometimes. The weather is going to start getting unbearably cold soon so I thought I'd take advantage of the outdoors while I can."

"I see." He walked with me back to the dorms.

"What about you? Where are you coming from?"

He grinned sheepishly, "I was hanging out with some friends last night and we lost track of time. I'm going to bed."

"It's 6:30 in the morning!" I said in disbelief, "you're going to bed now?!"

"It was a long night," he said, still smiling.

I couldn't help but laugh, "So what'd you guys do? All-night drink fest?"

"Not exactly," I didn't understand why he was being so evasive. That is until a girl came running up behind us calling his name.

"Edward!" she said, catching up to us. She did NOT look happy to see him with me. Her tone became icy, "you left your keys." She practically threw them at him as she glared and turned back around.

"Thanks, Ally!" He called after her.

She stopped dead in her tracks and spun around quickly, "it's Amy!" then she turned to look at me, "watch out for this one. He's good at pretending." And with that she stomped off.

I was stunned for a few seconds before turning to glare at Edward.

"What?!" he asked defensively.

"You are unbelievable." I stalked off very quickly back to the dorms, not wanting him next to me.

"What did I do?" he asked, keeping up with my pace easily.

"Hanging out with some friends?! Yea, right! You slept with that girl and you didn't even know her name! You're disgusting!"

"I _was_ hanging out with friends, for a while. She was one of them." He grinned at me, but I refused to look at him, "besides, I didn't sleep with her."

"Sure you didn't," I said, sarcastically.

"I swear, I'm not about to just sleep with a random girl." He sounded sincere, "I'm a little offended that you'd think that of me."

I snorted humorlessly, "Well, what am I supposed to think! Whenever I see you you're with a different girl. And if you didn't sleep with her, then why was she so upset at having seen me?"

"Well, I _may_ have led her to believe that I might have been interested in her." He admitted, "But it was totally innocent. Just a little kissing. And anyway, what's it to you?" His eyes were wickedly amused.

I stopped and turned to glare at him. "It doesn't matter to me what you do." He flashed me a grin, "but you never seem to think about what you're doing to the girl. That girl is probably heartbroken right now and you did that to her. And the worst part about it is that you don't even care! It's all a game to you."

"Hey, I never made any commitment to her; in fact, I let her know that I wasn't looking for anything. It's not my fault she kept throwing herself at me!" He laughed, "Are you jealous, Bella?"

"Ugh! That's disgusting," I started walking again, "I feel nothing but pity for that poor girl and the thousand other out there like her. Guys like _you_ are exactly the reason I don't buy into the whole love thing."

He smirked, "Are you telling me you don't believe in love?"

"Certain kinds, but not soul-mate kind of love."

"If there's no such thing then how do you explain all the happy people? Emmett and Rosalie, or Alice and Jasper for example. They're both happy couples."

I didn't respond right away. I didn't want to say anything negative about Alice or Rosalie, they'd become my closest friends. "The only real kinds of love there are out there are friendship and family. People are stupid to think otherwise. But granted, Alice and Rosalie seem very happy and I really hope things work out for them, they deserve it. But the love thing really isn't for me."

He wasn't smiling anymore. He stopped to look at me with his perfect eyebrows furrowed in concentration and curiosity.

"What," I asked, impatiently, turning to look at him back.

"I'm just surprised," he admitted, "I never thought I'd meet anyone else who felt that way."

"Well, you were wrong," we headed back towards Mason Hall, "but if you feel that way, then why all the girls?"

He laughed his charming laugh again, "just because I don't think it'll last doesn't mean it can't be fun while it does."

"So that's all it ever is to you? Fun?" See, that's why you can't trust boys.

He ran his fingers through his gorgeous hair, "well, yea. I know it's not the nicest thing in the world, but I'd never tell a girl I wanted to be with just her and then cheat on her. I make it known that I'm not going to settle. It's really not my fault they don't believe me."

"I guess that's true. But you don't have to take advantage of them when they're trying so hard to change your mind."

"Trust me," he said, grinning, "They take advantage just as much as I do. For example, that girl last night, cornered me in the hallway at my friend's place and started making out with me. What was I supposed to do? I hadn't even known her before last night."

I was horrified, "are you serious?! That's so sleazy! Why did you make out with her then?"

"She's a pretty good kisser," he shrugged, smiling at me.

I shook my head in disbelief, but I couldn't be mad at him while he smiled like that. Instead I ended up laughing. "Unbelievable."

We had reached the our dormitory.

"So what's made you so cynical?" he asked as we made our way to the elevator.

I shrugged, "I've just never seen a happy relationship between two people. My parents used to fight a lot before my mom died."

He hesitated, "I'm sorry about your mother." His eyes were very sincere as they concentrated on mine.

"It was a long time ago," I smiled at him to show him that it's ok, "what about you? You may act like a Casanova but you think like a cynic."

"You noticed, huh?" he laughed, "I guess I've just never felt whatever it is people say they feel when they meet the 'right' person. I think its all crap. _One_ soul mate? And what if you don't find them? Then what? You're doomed for life? It's all a little ridiculous for me."

"Couldn't agree more," I said as we reached my floor. I was prepared to say goodbye to him until he stepped out with me. "Where are you going?"

"I'm walking you to your door," he said as if it were obvious. "I'm being a gentleman."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, "Oh jeez."

As we reached my door, I turned to him, "I suppose since you're going to bed I should say goodnight?" I said mockingly.

He grinned, "Well it's not night time, so you could just say 'sweet dreams'."

"Alright, then, Edward, sweet dreams."

"Thanks," he called as he made his way back to the elevator.

_That was one seriously demented guy_, I laughed to myself as I walked into my room and shut the door softly, so I wouldn't wake Alice.

* * *


	4. First College Party

"Bella, you look like you're on your way to a convent!" Alice said, exasperated as I made my way to turn down the speakers attached to my computer. We'd been listening to music as we got ready for the party.

" Alice, I'm wearing jeans! I look fine. This isn't a formal party." I assured her. But as I looked at Alice, I knew I didn't look anywhere near as perfect for the occasion as she did. Alice wore dark low-rise jeans and the coolest brown boots I've ever seen. They were definitely designer. She'd paired in with an off-the-shoulders silk flowy top in hunter green and her hair was pulled back in front for a chic, straight look. She looked like she stepped right out of the pages of _Vogue_ magazine.

She looked at me like I was insane, "No. You're not wearing jeans and a t-shirt to your first college party. I won't allow it. Now you can either get another outfit or I will force you into one." She had her arms crossed across her chest and was standing in front of the door, blocking the way out. Alice was surprisingly strong for such a little person.

I sighed in defeat and headed back over to my wardrobe. "Well then, I don't know what to wear."

"No worries, I'll find you something." She began digging through her own wardrobe and pulling out random things. "Your jeans are fine but you're _so_ not wearing those orthopedic looking shoes. Those need to come off. And take off your t-shirt."

I groaned and followed instructions. Alice threw me a royal blue long sleeved shirt that would expose my midriff. "Where's the rest of the shirt?"

Alice giggled, "Silly Bella. Don't worry; it'll look really good on you."

" Alice, I can't wear this! I'd feel naked!"

"Bella, you have a great figure and you're always hiding it! This is your first college party, you really want to show up looking like a nun?"

"No, but I don't want people's first thoughts of me to be, 'whoa, check out the skank that just walked in'."

"Bella, no one will think you're skanky in any way." She laughed, "You're too nice. But fine, not that shirt. But how about this one?"

She held out a black low-necked wrap shirt with long sleeves. I agreed and she helped me with the wrap which tied in the back with an elegant looking knot in the back hanging down slightly. The shirt showed my belly-button but not the rest of my stomach, so I was fine with it.

"You're going to need accessories. And put on those cute black ankle boots that you have." She made her way over to her bulging jewelry boxes and pulled out shiny blue dangly earrings and simple silver chain with a matching blue stone attached.

After putting them on, Alice caught me trying to cover up the small parts of my chest that way exposed. "Bella, you can't see anything!" She handed me a tiny blue clutch.

"Good, I'm just making sure." I stuffed the clutch with the necessities and followed Alice out the door.

We arrived at party within a few minutes and immediately spotted Jasper talking to a few people. As she got his attention, Alice smiled brilliantly and we headed towards them.

"Hi!" She said as he bent down to kiss her on the lips.

"I'm glad you finally made it." He turned back to his friends, "you guys have met my girlfriend, but this is her roommate, Bella. Bella this is Joshua and Logan."

He indicated to a tall blue-eyed dark haired guy with a very kind smile and a red-headed, stocky guy next to him who extended his hand out to me. "Hi, Bella. I'm Logan." He said to me.

"Nice to meet you both." I smiled in return.

"Lets get you girls a drink," said Joshua as he led the way to the bar.

OK, I'd always imagined college parties to be a lot of sleazy looking frat boys parading around drunken skanky girls with kegs all over the place. This was nothing like what I had expected.

We were in an old stone building, some huge fraternity house, by the looks of it. There was a large bar in the far corner, 2 pool tables on the other side, a DJ and a dance floor towards the back and a huge dance floor where people were mingling. Everyone seemed to be having a good time socializing; no out of control people around.

"So Bella," Joshua asked me in a very deep but friendly voice, "Jasper tells us that your family used to go here." He handed Alice and I each a martini glass with pinkish liquid.

"Yes," I said, accepting a glass from him, "my grandmother and quite a few other generations before her came to this school. I don't really know much about them, though."

"What was her name?"

"Sabrina Hayden."

I noticed how Joshua, Logan and Jasper's eyes meet briefly before someone new interrupted us.

" Logan!" A blonde guy with came over to talk to him.

I saw Jasper mutter something to Alice and she laughed. Joshua and Logan didn't look too pleased; they both had tight smiles on their faces.

"Hello, Mike." Logan addressed the newcomer, "enjoying the party?"

While they chatted, Alice pulled me aside. "Josh and Logan are both upperclassmen and they're pretty much big shots around campus. Mike and his brothers have been trying to get them to join this fraternity since they enrolled."

"Are they part of another fraternity?" I asked her.

"Not exactly." She said looking away. I could tell there was more to the story but she didn't continue and I didn't pursue it.

As the party went on, I talked to a lot of people I'd recognized from some of my classes and their friends. I was actually having a really good time.

I was talking to Angela, a very sweet girl that I shared my cubicle in the architecture building with. She had brought a friend with her who didn't seem so interested in our conversation, only in whatever boys were around.

"Oh my gosh, Angie, look!" She interrupted our talk and pointed towards a small crowd in the middle of the dance floor, "it's that boy I told you about!"

"Which one, Janet?" Angela asked as we both looked where she was pointing. Edward Cullen was laughing and joking with Emmett and a few other people.

"The bronze haired one. Isn't he gorgeous? He's in my biology class."

Suddenly Edward looked our way. Janet and Angela looked away quickly, but I waved casually. Janet was staring at me with her jaw practically touching the floor.

"Hey, Bella, there you are!" Edward came over to us, "I thought you'd left early."

"Nope," I said simply, "why, you don't take me for a party girl?" I joked.

He laughed, "Not really, no. I'm shocked. I saw Alice and I thought she was kidding when she said you were around here somewhere."

"Yes, well, I'm full of surprises. Edward, this is Angela and Janet. You guys, this is Edward."

He shook their hands politely, flashing them his dazzling smile. I saw Janet glaze over at one point and I had to roll my eyes and fight hard not to laugh. Edward seemed to have that effect on people.

He brought us over to his friends and introduced us. After a little while, Alice joined up with us and then the dancing started. I'm not a great dancer but I bounced along with the music happily as I watched Alice and Emmett joking around doing some really funny moves. I couldn't keep a straight face for long. Rosalie, Jasper and I laughed at the two craziest Cullen siblings as they joked around on the dance floor. At one point Emmett did a couple of John Travolta moves and Alice mimicked him, laughing the entire time.

"Are you having fun?" came a velvet voice in my ear. I hadn't noticed that Edward was standing next to me. He gently put his hand on the small of my back.

"Yea, actually. A lot of fun. You?" I asked him.

He grinned wickedly, "I've had about 4 guys talk to me about how great this fraternity is. It's kinda freaky how more guys have talked to me than girls."

I laughed hard at that, "Poor popular Edward."

Then Alice came over and started dancing with me. Jasper was talking to Edward and Emmett and Rosalie were dancing tightly together.

"May I cut in?" Jasper asked eventually as he picked Alice up playfully.

"She's all yours," I told him.

Edward was dancing with Janet, who looked like she'd just won the lottery.

I was headed off the dance floor when the blonde guy from blocked my way.

"Hey, I'm sorry, we didn't get introduced before. I'm Mike."

"Hi Mike, I'm Bella." I smiled politely.

"Want to dance?" He asked me.

"Oh, uh..." I played for time. I didn't really know this guy and he seemed a little forward.

"Come on, I promise I won't bite." He gave me a pleading look.

"OK, sure," He lead me towards the center of the dance floor and started dancing with me. But after 2 songs I couldn't deal with his hands trying to grab me anymore and I tried to excuse myself politely.

"Come on, one more song." He whispered in my ear as he pulled me closer.

"No thanks, I think my roommate is looking for me." I made an excuse.

"I'm sure you'll find her later."

Oh this guy simply _cannot_ take a hint, I thought to myself.

"Hey Bella!" I heard Edward call to me. He was no longer dancing with Janet. He came over to us. "Hey Mike," his smile didn't reach his eyes as he addressed Mike. He quickly turned to me, "Bella, I think Alice is looking for you."

"Oh, thanks Edward. Bye Mike." I quickly made my way towards Alice.

"Hey Bella, you ready to head out?" she asked as she say me.

"Yep."

"OK, cool, let's go."

Jasper walked with all of us back to the dorms and we left him and Alice downstairs to say their goodbyes. Edward walked me to my door again.

"Thanks for saving me back there. I swear Mike seemed to have about 2 extra sets of hands while we were dancing."

"Yea, I figured. He's not a great gentleman like myself." He bowed jokingly.

"Whatever. Goodnight _kind sir_." I mocked him.

"Sweet dreams, _m'lady_." We both laughed as he took off towards his room.

* * *

So whaddaya think thus far? 


	5. College Hard

In the following week I saw less of Edward and Emmett, since they were both on the football team and practices had gotten pretty heavy. I was pretty busy with my own vast amount of work and therefore spent a lot of time in the studio, drafting in my cubicle until the early hours of the morning.

One morning I walked into my room and Alice jumped and ran to her closet, throwing something in before I could see it.

I laughed at her, "Why so jumpy Alice? Whatcha hiding?"

Her face flushed a little, "Nothing," she said a little too quickly, "just a little something for Jasper later."

I wrinkled my nose, "Enough said."

"Another all-nighter Bella?" she asked as I lay on my bed for a few minutes before having to get ready for class.

"Yep."

"I don't know how you do it. That makes 3 just this week alone. Its not even time for midterms yet."

"I know, but I like to keep ahead of things. If I wait until the last minute the whole studio will be packed with babbling procrastinators and I won't get anything done right."

I sat up and grabbed my towel, heading for the bathroom when I noticed a garment bag hung on the outside of her wardrobe with a sequined and feathered face mask hanging on top of it.

"What's that for?" I asked, gesturing towards the mask.

"Oh this?" She responded, not meeting my eye right away. "Just some inspiration for a new design for class."

I noticed something was off about her as she went to change for class but I didn't want to pry. I headed to the bathroom and took a quick shower, putting on my comfy bathrobe. As I towel-dried my hair, I walked back into the room.

"Hey Alice, is something bothering you because you seem a lot quieter and stuff these da-"

The room was empty. Alice had left. Usually it would be fine, but it was Thursday and she and I had art history together in the morning. We usually walked together to class after having put very strong tea into our travel mugs.

I changed and headed to class, still wondering about Alice's strange behavior.

I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, as usual, and I walked right into Joshua, the tall blue-eyed boy from the party, Jasper's friend.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Josh, I didn't even see you." I'm sure my face was as bright as a tomato by now.

"It's no problem. Are you ok?"

"Yea I'm fine, just clumsy." I admitted.

"Where are you headed?" He asked.

"To Banner Hall for class,"

"Oh, well, I'm headed that way. Mind if I walk with you?"

We started walking again and I apologized once again for my gracelessness.

"It's really no big deal. Actually I wanted to ask you something."

"Oh," I was curious, "go ahead." What could this campus VIP have to ask _me?_

"You mentioned that you were related to Sabrina Hayden before, correct?"

I stopped in my tracks and faced him. "Yes! Do you know of her? I haven't had much time yet to look into it, but I was hoping to do some digging in the school records, somehow."

He smiled at me, "Well, she and my grandfather were close friends. She was the matron of honor at his wedding to my grandmother, actually."

I was stunned to silence for a few moments. "Wow. This is a really small world."

He grinned, "Not really. It's a tradition in my family to attend Meyer University. You get the random relatives who don't. My sister, for example. She decided to go to _Harvard_." He rolled his eyes in mock disgust and I laughed, "But for the most part, the majority of my family has attended."

"It seems to be that way for a lot of people at this school."

"Really?"

"Well, not _a lot _of people, but the Cullens and the Hales both had family here before them."

"That's true. There are a quite a few others. I'm surprised you noticed that, Bella. Not many people do." We had reached Banner Hall.

"Well, this is me. Thanks for walking me."

"No trouble. Bella, you should keep searching for a connection. It might not be an easy thing to find, but things worth finding usually are that way." He looked at me with concentration.

I was seriously confused by his expression, "Oh, uh… Thank you. I will."

His face cleared and he smiled. "Anyway, see you around, Bella." He turned and left.

_OK_, I thought to myself, _what was _that_ all about_?

--

* * *

I'd seen Alice in class but as soon as it was over, she promptly left, giving me some excuse about homework. So I went to the dining hall by myself, figuring I could use the time to look over my notes. But I wasn't alone for long.

"Hey," came the silky voice of Edward Cullen.

I looked up to see him standing up behind the chair opposite of me with a smile.

"Mind if I sit down?" He asked.

"Not at all," I responded, "what's been up?"

"Oh, just keeping busy," he put his tray down and took a seat. "I hear you've been pretty busy lately."

" Alice told you about my studio nights?" I guessed.

"Yea."

"Actually, I think she's been pretty busy herself. Either that or she's avoiding me. You know anything about that?"

He didn't meet my eyes. "She's been busy too."

I knew he was lying, "Come on, I can tell you know something. What gives? Did I do something?"

"Trust me, Bella; it's got nothing to do with you. And she's fine. She'll probably be busy for a little while, though. We all will." He looked at me apologetically.

"What are you guys…?"

He interrupted before I could finish. "I can't tell you that, and I have to ask you not to pry. But in a little while, everything will go back to normal, I promise."

I considered that for a moment. In the end, what they were doing was their business and it wasn't my place to investigate. I had my own problems to worry about, including finding out about my family.

"So, been having a lot of fun lately?" I asked, changing the subject.

He smiled, "What makes you think that?"

"Oh nothing… except Angela was telling me how Janet thought you were going to ask her out soon…" I grinned at him teasingly, "So it looks like you've finally found a girl you like…"

"Ha! As if." He rolled his eyes, "See this is why girls are so confusing. I _specifically_ tell them I don't want to start anything and they agree, saying they don't either. Then they turn around and try to trap you in a relationship. What is the problem with your gender?!"

"_My_ gender?" I said in disbelief, "Aren't you the one who says he doesn't want anything but then makes out with them anyway?"

He grinned sheepishly.

"That's what I thought." I rolled my eyes.

"So what do you think about it, anyway?"

"About Janet?" I have to admit I was shocked that he wanted my opinion.

"No, about world hunger." He rolled his eyes sarcastically, "Yes, about the girl, dummy."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Well, I don't know her so I couldn't tell you. But I _do_ know that she has been talking to Angela about you."

He considered that for a minute. "Nah, too easy." He said shaking his head.

"You are unbelievable!" I laughed and shook my head. "Go call Janet, I think it would make her day. Just don't lead her on, ok?"

"But I don't want to!" He whined playfully, "Did you see the look she gave me when you introduced us? I thought she had gone into shock. And when we were dancing she looked like she was going to pass out."

"It's not her fault!" I laughed, defending poor Janet, "You do tend to dazzle people, Edward."

"I dazzle people?" he looked confused, but then he smiled triumphantly.

"What do you want a medal or something?"

He ignored my comment "Do I dazzle _you_?"

"Nope. I'm immune to your charms." I joked.

"Dang." He said in mock anger.


	6. A Breakfast Affair

A few weeks later 

Soon it was the end of October. As Edward had predicted, I didn't see much of him or Alice much. Sometimes Alice would come in really late at night; I figured she'd been at Jasper's place.

"Good morning!" she sang as she burst through the door one morning, dressed in the strangest outfit I'd seen on her yet. She was wearing an old flapper dress, one you were likely to see in a 1920s movie or something.

"Alice?" I said, still drowsy with sleep.

"Wake up, sleepy! We're going to breakfast!" She came over and tugged at my comforter.

I groaned and sat up, taking in her outfit. "Aren't you a little dressed up for breakfast?"

"No silly, I'm going to change, of course." She zoomed to her closet and grabbed a handful of clothes. "Go get ready; we're meeting everyone for breakfast soon."

"What were you doing that required you to wear _that_?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"Just hanging out."

Ok, that was clearly a lie, "sure," I said, laying my head back on my pillow. Alice and the others had been really secretive lately. I didn't want to be nosy, but I missed hanging out with her and I was getting a little annoyed at her evasiveness.

"Bella! I'm so sorry I've been such a bad roomie lately, but I promise, it gets better from here on in. Now please come to breakfast with us…. Pretty please?" she had come over and was pouting at me, her big light green eyes pleading.

I groaned loudly as I hoped off the bed and headed towards the bathroom.

"Yay!" I heard Alice shriek as I shut the door to take a shower.

I got out quickly and Alice took her turn to shower. I put on a pair of tan, skinny corduroy pants, a simple yet fitted long-sleeved white v-neck shirt and a pair of tall black boots that went on top of the pants.

"You look so cute Bella!" Alice said. Alice's fashion obsession had definitely rubbed off on me. I was no where near as fanatical about it as she was, though. "Just throw on some lip gloss or something. And maybe put on your pearl studs."

"Pearls? For breakfast? Are you serious?"

As she put on a pair of jeans and grey long-sleeved shirt with a very cute, cropped black vest on top, I pulled my hair into a ponytail and threw on my pearl studs at the last minute.

"Yes, I'm serious. Why not look your best?"

"Alice, I don't think people in the dining hall will care what I look like."

"We're not going to the dining hall."

I stopped to look at her, "I thought you said we were going to breakfast?"

"We are, just not at the dining hall."

"Alice Cullen, what are you not telling me?!"

She looked at me innocently, "nothing, we're just going to breakfast with a few of our friends."

"Will I know anyone there?" I asked, suddenly nervous. There had to be a reason why she was dressing me up.

"Yes, you'll know me!" I rolled my eyes at her, "and you'll know Rose, Jasper, Emmett and Edward! And you already know Josh and Logan."

She finished putting on some make-up and jewelry, and then came over to me to put some soft eyeliner on my eyes. "This is just to make your eyes pop out a little more. Now throw on some lip gloss and we're outta here."

We headed to Rosalie's room down the hall. She was already dressed in light jeans and a flowy black empire waisted shirt with a pair of cute black pumps. Even the simplest of outfits seemed extraordinary on Rosalie. I felt very drab in comparison. We headed downstairs where Edward and Emmett were waiting for us.

"So is anyone going to tell me exactly where it is we're going?" I demanded.

Edward smiled and put his hand around my shoulders. I felt a slight electric shock at his touch, but ignored it right away. "We're going to Jasper's building for breakfast."

"What aren't you guys telling me?" I begged for more information.

Emmett smiled at me, "Nothing, Bells! You need to relax!"

We arrived at Jasper's building across campus in only a few minutes. When we got into the sparkling brass elevator, I noticed that Alice did not hit the button for Jasper's floor.

As we reached the top floor of the building, I became even more nervous. What was going on?

The elevator doors soon opened and I felt my jaw drop. It was a very large, entertaining area with a very long and elegant dining table set up directly in the center. It was made on dark wood and at least thirty elaborate place settings set around it. There were elegant dark wood upholstered chairs set up behind each immaculate place setting.

There were three chandeliers set up directly above the table. Around the room there were small, elegant sofas of dark wood and white upholstery. The room was sophisticatedly paneled to look like a grand ball room in a castle. There were a number of people already there, mingling with a few waiters with beverages on trays weaving through them.

"Where are we?" I whispered to Edward who was standing next to me.

He bent down, turning his head towards my face and whispered directly into my ear, "Relax, Bella. These are just some friends." His breath tickled me as his low voice reassured me, "don't be nervous. They're all quite anxious to meet you."

I felt a shiver go down my spine as soon as he pulled away. Weird.

"Me? Why me?" I gulped nervously.

He shrugged.

Jasper spotted us as soon as we stepped out of the elevator. The elevator opened directly into the room. He smiled as soon as he locked eyes with Alice's and came over, giving her a hug before greeting everyone else. I smiled to myself as I thought about how perfect they were together. They really deserve to be happy, I hoped for their sakes that true love existed, despite my beliefs otherwise.

Edward seemed to sense my thoughts and put his hand on the small of my back. I turned to look at him and he had a strange yet breathtakingly intense look on his face.

"Hey!" Jasper said to the rest of us once he put Alice back on the ground.

"Come on, Bella," Alice grabbed my arm and pulled me towards a group of people, Jasper and Edward were right behind us. Emmett and Rosalie went to talk to a few other people. It seemed that I was the only person in the room who didn't know everyone.

Jasper introduced me to the group of people we stood with. They were all very nice. I recognized Josh and Logan from before.

"We're just waiting for a few other people to arrive, and then we'll start with breakfast," said a very sweet black haired girl with hazel eyes who was holding on to Josh's arm.

"So have you had any luck tracking down your relatives?" Logan asked me.

I laughed, humorlessly, "Not really. You'd think they were the CIA with how tightly they guard those old student records."

Logan chuckled. We all continued to talk until we heard the clinking of a crystal glass. I looked up to see Josh had separated himself from our group and was at the head of the table.

He cleared his throat once and smiled at all his friends, "I believe we are all present, so ladies and gentlemen, if you would be so kind as to take your seats so we can begin breakfast."

Edward put his hand on the small of my back again and led me to the table where he held a chair and slid it forward as I sat down. Once again, the electric shock rattled through me at his touch. I noticed all the guys held the chairs for all the women in the room. How is it that such gentlemen exist in the world? It must be something in the water around here.

--

* * *

It was the most delicious breakfast I'd ever had. Four courses were served to us while we sat through delightful conversation. I listened as Edward and Logan joked about the rival football team at their last game. I had actually attended that game with Alice and Rosalie, so I was able to keep up with the conversation. 

A few people I'd never met before asked me about myself, school and my family. I was only able to tell them the few things I did know about my mother's family, though I found that two other girls there were trying out for the soccer team as well as soon as the new term started.

"So what position do you play?" I asked a strawberry blond girl seated across from me by the name of Tanya.

"I'm a halfback. You?"

"Center forward. It's been a weird transition, going from everyday practices to studying all the time."

"I know what you mean, it'll get even more hectic when you get on the team." Tanya explained, "The coach is kind of a pain but you get used to the yelling."

"Wait a second," Emmett cut in, "Bella, I didn't know you could run and kick at the same time! Usually you have trouble just walking!"

"Oh ha ha," I rolled my eyes at him as the people surrounding us laughed. It was no secret that I wasn't the most coordinated person on earth. But when I was on the soccer field, all that seemed to take a back seat.

Breakfast ended soon after that and we sat around having tea and conversing for a while later. I think I got a chance to talk to everyone there at least once. They were all very nice, but every once in a while I felt as though I was being tested. Edward and Alice stayed by my side. Whenever I started to get tense, Jasper would put his hand on my shoulder and calm me down instantly. I don't know how he does it.

--

* * *

I walked through the door of my dorm room and threw myself on my bed. I was so overly stuffed that all I wanted to do was go to sleep. 

I lay on my bed thinking over the questions I'd been too chicken to ask while we were at the penthouse. A lot of the people I'd met this morning had families that gone to this same university. How was it that all their children were friends? Where they all part of a sorority or fraternity? How did I fit into all of this?

I drifted off to sleep with my head full of questions only to be woken up an hour later by Alice and Jasper.

Jasper was on the verge of tears from laughing so hard and Alice was shaking with laughter also, unable to contain it even though her hand was clamped over her mouth.

"What's so funny?" I asked, still groggy with sleep.

Alice pointed at me, "you… talk…," she gasped for air between stiches of laughter, "you were saying … the weirdest things!"

I felt the blood drain from my face. I knew I talked in my sleep, I'd done it my whole life. My mom and I used to laugh about it. Alice had chuckled about it a few times but I'd never seen her cracking up like this. I knew whatever I'd said must've been something unbelievably embarrassing.

"Bella, I didn't know you could sing." Jasper was holding his sides.

"Sing?" I asked, afraid of what the answer would be.

"Britney Spears…" Alice choked out, rolling on the floor, "you … do an _amazing_ impression…"

She did an imitation of me laying in my bed croaking out the Britney Spears lyrics to 'Gimme Gimme More' in my sleep.

I felt the blood rush back to my face as they both cracked up more.

"Oh shut up!" I jumped off my bed and stomped into the bathroom, leaving them in their hysterics.

--

* * *

**OK, I know this chapter is confusing, but I promise it does have a purpose and you will soon see what that is. I had to get through this stuff first or else the rest of the story wouldn't really make sense. But stay tuned, it gets more interesting!**


	7. Birthday Surprise

Halloween came and went, taking a few random parties with it. That was the night that I had insisted to Alice that I wasn't going out. As she had her own plans, though, she didn't force me to go out. Actually, both the Cullens and the Hales disappeared that weekend, nor did I see anyone from that penthouse breakfast. There was definitely something up with that group.

But I had my own things to get done and I focused my energies on them. I had been at school since the middle of August. It was now early November and I had yet to find out anything about my family. So, I had that to get done, plus Alice's birthday was coming up and I wanted to plan something special for her. I had already asked Jasper and Edward if they were planning anymore mysterious disappearances on her birthday and they'd both said no.

After my classes that day, I took my car and drove to the downtown part of town right outside of campus. It was a really adorable little place with old stone buildings filled with shops, café's and restaurants.

I couldn't really find anything in particular that I liked for her and kept strolling along the street. I suddenly saw a flash of bronze colored hair in a café window. I went to see if it was indeed Edward.

Of course it was. I was going to stop inside and say hello but when I saw that he wasn't alone, I decided against it. He was with a pretty blonde girl having coffee and laughing. I quickly walked away before they spotted me.

I can't explain why I felt semi-frustrated at seeing them together. Edward dated tons of girls… well 'dated' is a bit of a stretch, but you know what I mean.

--

* * *

I had enlisted the help of Rosalie, Jasper, Edward and Emmett to help plan a little surprise for Alice's upcoming birthday. Alice was very hard to surprise; she always had a sixth sense about things. I swear, sometimes I thought that girl could see the future. But _this_ was going to be a surprise, I'd vowed to myself.

Jasper had agreed to make sure Alice spent the night at his apartment that night so that Rosalie, Emmett, Edward and I could prepare. The plan was for us to surprise her here and then take her out to dinner with all of her friends.

"You sure are quiet," Edward said to me as we finished putting up the last of the decorations in our room. Emmett and Rosalie had left already, so it was just us. "Are you angry with me?"

I continued with the clean-up process without looking at him, "Why would I be angry with you?"

"That's what I'm asking," he said with a smirk.

I sighed, slightly annoyed, "I'm just tired. I have no reason to be angry with you, Edward."

He tried to hide a grin, "I thought I saw you the other day in town. In a café window."

Damn. So he _had_ seen me. "Yea, I saw you too but I didn't want to interrupt."

"It would've been a very welcome interruption, you know." He was grinning at me like he knew something I didn't and he was enjoying it. It made me uncomfortable and even more annoyed.

"Well I didn't want to cut short that poor girl's time with you" I spat icily, "considering how brief your attention span for girls seems to be, I thought she would relish those precious few moments of interest and wouldn't want them interrupted, especially because it was bound to be someone else's turn before the night was out."

His smile was gone. It was replaced by an angry glare. I felt a little bit bad about how I'd reacted. I don't really know where the sudden anger had come from. "Just because you choose to live your life in a_ mind-numbingly_ boring fashion doesn't give you the power to veto other people's lifestyles," He snapped, "or does life in the nunnery leave you so content that you just never feel the need for fun?"

I was livid! "If your definition of fun means hooking up with anything that walks by on two legs, then I'd much rather be miserable!"

His eyes flashed with anger, "You are utterly absurd," his tone was low and menacing, "Enjoy your misery." And with that he left my room, slamming the door tightly behind him.

Thank goodness the tears held out until he was gone. I was never able to stop my tears when I was angry, and right now I was furious. I put my ipod ear pieces in and blasted some hard rock, letting it block out any thoughts before I fell asleep.

--

* * *

The next morning, I woke up early to make sure everything was ready for Alice's surprise. Rosalie came by and dropped the cakes off (yes, multiple cakes) before we headed to breakfast. Alice met us in the dining hall where we ate, not acknowledging her birthday to her at all, just acting like it was another ordinary day.

It was funny to see her reaction. When she first arrived, she looked excited and expectant. When we started talking about the weather her face fell. Then we completely ignored her when her disappointment fell to impatience as the conversation turned to classes. By the time we'd finished breakfast she was livid.

Rosalie and I looked at each other and tried hard not to laugh as Alice stormed off to dispose of her tray.

"Is there anything the matter, Alice?" Rosalie asked innocently as we caught up with her.

"No!" she snapped. "I'm going back to the dorms."

"We'll follow you, I don't have class until a little later," I said to her sweetly, ignoring her tone.

"Me neither. Let's all go." Rosalie chimed in. I was fighting very hard not to smile.

"Fine," Alice muttered angrily and she stormed off, walking in quick, angry steps. We kept up with her easily. She was muttering some angry and unintellegable babble under her breath as we walked but it was too low and quick for us to hear. Rosalie turned a laugh into a cough and I didn't dare look at her for fear of laughing.

When we reached the door of our dorm room, I pretended to forget my key and asked her to open for us, Rosalie right behind us. I felt Alice freeze as the door opened.

"SURPRISE!" came a chorus of voices from inside our room along with our own.

There were dozens of balloons, in various shades of pink scattered around the room with pink ribbon attached, as well as pink streamers stretching across the ceiling a few times, a disco ball and a huge pink banner with the words Happy Birthday Alice is glittery silver letters. On her bed there was a stack of prettily wrapped presents and on her desk there were five cakes, all shaped like a letter to her name; A-L-I-C-E. Each letter had pink icing and pretty candied flowers on it.

Edward, Emmett and Jasper were inside with big smiles on their faces.

Alice was stunned. She was frozen at the doorway with both her hands covering her mouth in shock.

"Oh my GOSH!" she finally exclaimed before rounding on myself and Rosalie, "I thought you forgot!"

I laughed at her, "We know you did. It was hilarious." I was the first to give her a big hug before everyone else took their turn.

Emmett enveloped his tiny little sister in the biggest bear hug I've ever seen before Jasper pulled her safely away from his grasp and kissed her passionately.

She excitedly made her was around the room, taking in the decorations and jumping up for joy. "I love it!!! Bella we should keep it like this always!"

I looked around the room at the explosion of pink everywhere. "We'll see," I said in mock sternness as the others laughed.

"Time for presents!" Rosalie said picking up one that was from her and handing it to Alice.

Alice bounced up and down a few more times and complied. She opened each one in turn, squealing like a little kid at Christmas. Among them was a really amazing and exclusive pair of designer heels (from Rosalie), concert tickets (from me) and a gorgeous diamond tennis bracelet from Jasper which he had designed specifically for her.

"Ok, hang on," I said as I made my way towards the desk full of cakes. I whipped out a lighter to start lighting each of the 18 candles on each cake. But as I lit the first cake and was going for the second, a pad of Post-It notes on Alice's desk caught fire.

"Oh my gosh!" I shrieked, stepping back. The fire was spreading to a notebook near-by. Emmett quickly came over with a towel and squashed out the spreading fire… and the first cake.

"Ew!" he said as he lifted up the cake covered towel, "I should've known. Bella, you and fire do NOT mix," he laughed.

Everyone else cracked up, and when my face finally returned to its normal pale color, instead of the bright red it had become, I joined in the laughter.

"Well, it no longer spells Alice," I said sheepishly, "sorry."

"Hey, I like this better," Emmett said, "Happy birthday, Lice!"

"I think that's a catchy new nick name for you, Lice" Edward smirked at Alice.

Alice gave them both a stern look, "Don't even think about it," she warned them.

"OK Lice, its time for classes." Rosalie said, ignoring Alice's glare.

"And later today we're going out to dinner with everyone else," Jasper told her, "so you'll have to dress up."

"Yay! I LOVE dressing up," she bounced into his lap.

"I know you do," he took her into his arms willingly.

I grabbed my bag and coat and followed Emmett, Rosalie and Edward out of the door, leaving Alice and Jasper alone.


	8. Party Girl

**I LOVE you guys! I'm so happy to have gotten such great reviews! **

**A few of you seem to have the same questions so here are some answers:**

**Why can Jasper calm people down and Alice "see" things?**

**- well, they can't **_**supernaturally**_** do those things because they are human, but I wanted to remain somewhat true to the characters so I went with what Stephenie Meyer has said of these characters. Jasper is very charismatic as a human and is good with people, therefore he can calm people down easily. Alice can't actually "see" the future, but she's very intuative and usually has a sixth sense about certain things. Edward cannot read people's minds **_**per se**_** but he can read people well and can decipher what they are thinking through their actions.**

**Will Edward and Bella get together?**

**- Of course! I love them too much to keep them apart for long, trust me on that. **

**What's with the whole family thing?**

**- All will unfold as the story develops. I promise. You wouldn't want me to give away the ending would you:)**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own only this laptop and this plot, so if you could try to not sue me, that would be awesome. **

* * *

Emmett and Rosalie disappeared leaving Edward and I to walk together towards our classes. We hadn't acknowledged each other since last night when we'd fought and we walked side by side, but careful not to stay too close. 

I was still furious with him, but the silence was getting to me. "Edward, I shouldn't have come at you like that last night," I said, hoping for a little less hostility.

It was a vain hope.

"OK, you can ignore me," I rolled my eyes, "but I wasn't the only one who was rude."

Still nothing.

"Come on, are you seriously just never going to talk to me again?"

Silence.

Enough was enough, "Never mind," I muttered under my breath and I sped up, walking quickly towards my class.

Throughout my class I was so riddled with thoughts of Edward and his words last night that I had trouble focusing on the lecture.

"_Does life in the nunnery leave you so content that you just never feel the need for fun_?" He had said to me. Those words repeated in my head over and over.

_I know how to have fun,_ I thought to myself, _just because my idea of fun is different than his doesn't mean I'm boring_.

But then a horrible thought struck me. What if I _was_ boring. Everyone always seemed to have something to do except me. I spent my nights working in the studio or pining after my relatives. I never took advantage of the invitations given to me by certain sororities or fraternities. I've only ever really gone out when Alice forced me. _Oh man, I_am_ boring!_

Well, things were going to be different. I'd show him that I could be fun. Somewhere in my head I knew I was being childish in letting him get to me this way, but I was only 18! I couldn't let myself become an old lady just yet.

--

* * *

Alice's birthday dinner was very pleasant. We went to a very nice restaurant that had cleared an entire room for 20 people, all of which had been at the breakfast at Jasper's building a while ago.

I had a good time even though I made sure to stay away from Edward who had brought a date; the same pretty blonde who was with him at the café. I caught him shooting strange glances at me a few times and it made me wonder if my words had affected him as his had affected me.

The girl, Lauren, looked blissful at the thought of being around the present company, although people weren't exactly pleasant towards her, I couldn't help but notice. The thought comforted me slightly.

I spent the night chatting with everyone else and doing my best not to look at Edward.

--

* * *

That weekend came my opportunity to go have appropriate college fun. I was invited to a party at a sorority house and I wasn't about to miss this one.

"You're going to a Phi Beta party?" Alice asked in shock.

"Yes, why not?" I shrugged, nonchalantly.

"Because they're bimbos!" she exclaimed, "and their parties are exactly the same; a loud all-night drink fest where they flirt with anyone who comes their way."

"So what? Just because _they_ are dumb doesn't mean I have to be. I'm just going to have some fun," I said to her. The truth was that I was terrified. But I had made my decision and I was going. "Will you come with me?" I asked sheepishly. I hate to admit it but I needed Alice there, for support more than anything.

"I promised Jasper I'd come over later." I pouted at her, pleading with my eyes, "But I suppose I can go for a little bit," She rolled her eyes at me, "you are _so_ going to owe me after this."

"Thank you!"

An hour later we were made up and ready. Alice was shocked to see me in a attractive yet not-too-sexy outfit. I had decided on black skinny jeans and a turquoise long sleeved silky shirt that had an open back, with turquoise pumps and some dangly earrings.

"I've never seen you put such effort into your outfit! What's gotten into you? Are you sick?" she came over to feel my forehead.

"No!" I laughed, "But I want to do the party scene right. Are you ready?"

She sighed, "I guess. Let's go."

We could hear the party going on from a block away as we approached the sorority house.

"Hello ladies!" said an excited pledge girl as she led us into the house, "Enjoy the party!"

"How much must it suck to be stuck outside in the cold greeting people?" Alice muttered to me.

"She doesn't seem to mind," I responded.

"That's because she doesn't have enough brain cells to decipher how freezing she actually is."

I shook my head and laughed as we made our way through the house.

We found a few people we knew and hung out with them after getting a drink. After an hour Alice left, but not before she made sure that I would be ok.

"Call me if you need anything, we can come pick you up."

"I'll be fine," I assured her.

Not long after she left, Mike Newton came up to me, "Hey, Bella!" he smiled at me, "Your drink is empty. Let me get you another one."

"No, I'm OK," I smiled back at him politely. That's when I spotted Edward Cullen at the bar with Lauren gabbing in his ear. She was leaning into him seductively as she spoke to him. He had a distracted look in his eye as he took a small sip from his cup. _Is he seriously dating her_? I asked myself, feeling thoroughly disappointed for some odd reason.

"Don't worry, I'll be right back. I'll go get it for you." Mike hurried off.

I was barely paying attention to him and was still in a daze when he came back handing me a cup. I took a very tiny sip out of courtesy but decided against drinking it. I was no longer in the party mood and wanted to go home.

_No_! I scolded to myself, _you are here to have fun, so let loose a little._

"Come dance with me," Mike said to me, not giving me a choice as he led me to the middle of the dance space and put a hand on my hip.

I couldn't get away from him yet, so I decided to allow him one dance, then excuse myself. But unfortunately his many hands kept grabbing me. I unconsciously kept taking sips of my drink, mainly to give myself a reason to step away from Mike's hands. As soon as the song was over I made an excuse but he took my cup from me and whispered something in my ear… I couldn't really understand what it was… his words were suddenly slurred. I felt him pull me closer… I went to push him away but my hand was like jelly… and my head was getting really cloudy. This was odd… I hadn't even finished one drink….

Some part of me knew that this was not good and panicked. I was in the middle of a crowded dance floor where it was too loud to hear anyone say anything, pushed up against this pervert whose hands were suddenly not just on my hips anymore. I knew I was in trouble and I looked around for a familiar face.

My hand stumbled into my pocket where my cell phone was, keeping it behind my back so Mike wouldn't see. I pressed send; making it automatically redial the last person I'd called, though I couldn't remember who that was. Hopefully they'd get the hint, whoever they were.

As soon as I felt that someone would have picked up I put the phone to my ear.

"Bella?" Alice's voice came through. I felt relief flood through me.

"Alice," I yelled into the phone as best I could in my current state of mind, "Alice I-"

But Mike laughingly took the phone out of my hands and put it to his ear, "who are you drunk dialing, Bella? Whoever this is, no worries, she'll be just fine." And with that he shut my phone. He looked at me with a desirous look in his eyes. Panic struck me again, though slowly.

My head was more and more aware of the twinkling lights around the place and the pounding of the music. Everything was hazy.

"Please," I mumbled to Mike, "I'm going home. Let me go."

"What kind of guy would I be if I let you go home in this condition. I'll take you home."

I was in no condition to fight back. I looked around desperately searching for anyone. Then I noticed the bronze hair. _Please let him notice_, I prayed silently.

"Ed…ward," I yelled out as best I could as we got closer to the exit. Mike was half-carrying me out. I couldn't be sure if he'd heard me. I tried to pull away from Mike but my body wasn't functioning the way I wanted to.

But soon we stopped and I heard a velvet voice give a command in a low, menacing tone. The tone would've scared me if I hadn't known who it belonged to. Edward could be very intimidating when he wanted to be, and I guess now he definitely wanted to be.

"Cullen, I'm going to take her home. How am I supposed to know she's going to be safe with you."

_Please, Edward, don't let him take me_, I lifted my heavy head up to look at him, my eyes pleading. I was majorly panicking now, terrified of being alone with Mike.

I couldn't decipher the rest of the tense conversation between the two boys, but the last thing I remember was the feeling of mortal fear flooding through me as everything blacked out.

--


	9. Aftermath & Comfort

My eyes opened slowly. The darkness in the room told me that it was very early in the morning. I was on a bed. I was very panicked but I didn't remember why.

It took me a few blinks to realize that I was in _my_ bed.

I sat up, but instantly regretted it as a pounding pain went through my head.

There was someone sleeping on Alice's bed, but it wasn't Alice. It was Edward.

Relief shot through my body when I saw him there.

I couldn't remember anything. How did I end up here? But my eyes were too heavy and I flopped back onto my pillows and back to sleep, feeling safe.

--

* * *

The next time I opened my eyes, it was brighter. I could tell it was morning and I sat up slowly.

"Good morning," I looked over to Alice's bed where Edward was laying, "How are you feeling?" His tone was perplexing, he was clearly not happy.

"I'm fine, wh-" but as soon as the words came out of my mouth, the memory of last night came back to me. Mike trying to take me home and me not being able to stop him. I couldn't control the huge sob that came out as I remembered how scared I'd been; reliving that mortal fright sent me into light hysterics. "Oh my gosh," I managed to whisper to myself between heavy sobbing.

Quicker than I would've thought possible, Edward was by my side, hesitantly putting his hand on my shoulder, "You're OK now, Bella. Nothing is going to happen to you." He sounded so protective.

"I… was… s-so scared!" I sobbed uncontrollably. "I swear," I explained to him desperately, "I didn't even f-finish half a drink… I-I just don't know what happened."

"Sshhh, Bella, its ok." He rubbed my back gently. He let me cry for a while and I appreciated it. I had passed complete mortal humiliation already, what was a little more?

After a few minutes, I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and shower. I'd woken up in the same clothes from last night. I stayed in the water for a long time, letting the pounding hot water wash away my distress, or at least a part of it. Thoughts of Mike wanting to take me home made me feel stressed again and I would start the calming down process all over again. I towel dried my hair slowly and secured my comfy bathrobe around me.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, Edward was sitting on my bed in fresh clothes and wet hair. "You spend a long time in the bathroom," he joked.

I smiled sheepishly, but I couldn't reach any genuine good humor. "I don't remember much of what happened last night, but thank you." My voice was barely above a whisper.

He came over to me, stopping about a foot away, "It was no trouble," his voice was soft.

"I'm sorry to have taken you away from the party." The tears were surfacing again, "I'm so sorry," my voice was much thicker, "I don't-" but a sob wouldn't let me continue. I buried my face in my hands and cried a little more.

Before I knew what was happening, Edward stepped closer and put his arms around me, pulling me ever so gently into him. I rested my head against his chest, sniffling softly. His hands were soft on my back, rubbing it soothingly as his head rested on my chin. I felt so comforted at this moment; so safe.

"I'm almost positive Mike put something in your drink, either that or one of his idiot friends did it for him. I don't know if he would do that himself, but he is dumb enough to go along with it," He sounded menacing again, "It wasn't your fault. How were you supposed to know?" His voice was softer as he said the last part; sweeter.

I gave an involuntary whimper and shuddered at the thought of what would've happened had Edward not been there. "Thank you so much for stepping in when you did. I'm really sorry for making you leave the party early. I'm sure you were having fun before I ruined your night."

"You didn't," his breath tickled the top of my head as he spoke, "I wasn't having such a great time." He hesitated, "I was actually very glad for the distraction, although I could've killed Mike. It took some heavy convincing to get him to surrender you to me. I almost lost it. And then you passed out. I think I went a little insane." He admitted in his scarily menacing tone. "I just pulled you away from him without giving him a second thought. A few well chosen words scared him off."

The thought of him not having been there made me shudder. He held me closer upon feeling me shake. "Thank you so much, Edward," I felt tears run down my face again, "I don't think I'll ever be able to explain just how relieved I was to see you here this morning and not someone else."

We were silent for a few minutes, just standing there with his hands gently stroking my back.

He bent his head down so that his cheek was touching the side of my face, "This robe of yours feels incredible," he whispered near my ear.

I chuckled lightly, " Alice picked it out."

He continued running soft fingers over my back, on the soft fabric of my bathrobe. "Are you hungry?" he asked. I expected him to let me go as soon as I calmed down but he didn't; I wasn't complaining.

"Not really. Are you?" I mumbled into his chest.

I couldn't place the emotion in his voice as he answered me, "I'm perfectly content right now." Was it just my imagination or was there a double meaning there?

No, it must just be me.

Eventually we broke apart.

He wiped a tear away from my face, "Are you planning on staying in your robe all day or shall I give you some privacy to change?"

I looked down at myself and blushed, "I'm going to change into sweats, but I'll use the bathroom. You don't have to leave. Unless you want to, of course."

"Actually I-" but his phone rang and I never got to hear the end of his answer. He talked for a few minutes, frowning slightly. I gathered my very comfy yet pretty sweats and headed for the bathroom, fixing my hair and putting on a very fitted t-shirt and navy blue bottoms.

I was vaguely aware that this was Edward that I was prepping for and that I should really be careful not to let myself become emotionally involved in anyway, but I couldn't help the excitement I felt at possibly spending sometime with him. _It must just be the after-effect of my recent traumatic experience_, I convinced myself.

I came out of the bathroom and Edward was leaning against Alice's bed, frowning.

"Is something wrong?" I asked him.

He looked up at me, about to say something, but stopped as his eyes met mine. "I'm sorry, Bella, but I have to go."

"Oh," I said, disappointed. But of course he did. What did I expect? "It's fine. Don't worry about me, I'm ok now." I was _not_ going to let him see me disappointed in anyway.

"Are you sure?"

Oh God, that's why he was being so sweet to me. He thought I was going to fall apart completely, he pitied me. I felt hot humiliation spread through my whole body, making my face twinge red. "Yes, I'm really fine. Thank you for everything, Edward I really appreciate it. More than you'll ever know. But I'm fine now. You don't have to take care of me." I fought kept my tone polite and detached.

He looked at me, his eyes slightly frustrated, "I don't mind…" his voice was barely a whisper. But his expression cleared suddenly and he gave me a small smile, "OK, then. See you later."

"Bye," I muttered as I shut the door behind him. When he was gone I leaned my back up against my door, resting my head against it also.

Oh God, what's wrong with me?

--

* * *

**Please review. If you're one of those people who never reviews, please just tell me what you think. I'll give you a cookie! **


	10. Mysteries & Holidays

**How many times can I say I love you guys before it gets annoying? Well here's one more:**

**I LOVE YOU GUYS! Thanks for all the awesome reviews!**

**-- **

* * *

I had managed to avoid feeling awkward around Edward, or at least to avoid making him _think_ I felt weird around him. Things went pretty much back to normal over the next couple of days. 

It turns out that Alice had called Edward as soon as she'd gotten off the phone with me and Mike that night. Knowing what Mike and his friends were like, Edward, thankfully intercepted Mike before he could attempt to take me home or whatever.

"Bella, I'm so sorry for leaving you there alone." Alice had apologized to me a million times when I saw first her after the night of the party.

" Alice," I assured her with a hug, "_I_ wanted to stay. There's nothing you could've done. You did nothing wrong. I should know better than to accept anything to drink from someone like Mike."

That seemed to ease her distress, although she apologized a few more times that day.

It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Charlie had been guilted into spending this holiday with some distant relatives of his, and rather than be forced into some annoying cheek-pinching, I insisted that I had a lot of work to do so that I could stay on campus for the holiday.

I had decided to spend the day in the library after my class today since there was no school tomorrow, until the following Monday and I could use the time to look at old school yearbooks. I was hoping to find out something about my family.

I had looked through quite a few before I came across a her picture.

I knew it was her instantly because she looked so much like me. My mother had always told me that I looked like my grandmother, but looking at her picture, I knew that we could have passed for twins. She had the same heart-shaped face, big brown eyes and thick mahogany hair. Her smile lit up the photograph. I ran my fingers across it, tears forming in my eyes.

I looked through the yearbook and found many pictures of her. She was on the women's tennis team and she had been Summa Cum Laude of her graduating class. There were so many pages with her brilliant smile; her with a Meyer shirt cheering at a game with some friends, her at a bonfire laughing, her looking up at the camera making a silly faces among a group of others doing the same.

I noticed that she was with the same group of people in many of the black and white photographs. As I read over their names, I realized that I knew those surnames; Abramson, Schuler and Hale were among some others. Those stood out to me. Hale, of course was the name belonging to two of my friends. But the others I couldn't place.

Then it hit me; Joshua Abramson and Logan Schuler. Josh had mentioned that my grandmother and his grandfather had been close friends, but I hadn't known about Logan or Rosalie's family's connection to mine. How odd that they hadn't mentioned it. But then again, maybe they didn't know. After all, I barely knew anything about my grandmother, what were the chances they did?

My curiosity got the better of me and I consequently spent the next couple of hours going through countless yearbooks dating back to 1900 **(I don't know if they _had_ yearbooks back then, but lets just pretend)**, ignoring the library worker looking at me curiously. I had found my great-grandfather and his father each in quite a few pictures in a few yearbooks, and they had both been surrounded by others whose last names I recognized also; Denali, Gilmore, Schuler and Cullen. It seems that these families tend to stick together. Whenever I'd look up on of these surnames they were with one of the others. How strange.

I noticed that in one picture my great-great grandfather had a ring on his finger, as did his friends. I instinctively went back to the pictures in the other year books of my other relatives. I wasn't surprised to see that in a few of the pictures, they were all wearing similar rings. Even my grandmother wore one in her graduation picture.

Was that supposed to mean something?

It had gotten late and the library was about to close. I put away all the yearbooks except the one from my grandmother's graduating year. I took hers to a photocopy machine and took a copy of the page with her picture before packing up and going home.

When I got back to my dorm, it was late and I was tired so I changed into pajamas and went directly to bed. I looked over my grandmother's picture longingly. Her smile reminded me of my mother's; so joyful and full of life. I missed Renee. It wasn't very often that I thought about her anymore, usually it just made me sad. I read over the quote under her photograph a few times before finally falling asleep:

_"With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble._ _Courage is the foundation of integrity._"

--

* * *

I woke up that morning to Alice ranting. "Damn severe snow storms!" She had her arms crossed furiously as she stormed into our room the next morning.

Barely awake, I turned my head towards the window. " Alice, it's only a lightly flaking outside," I said.

"Not _here_!" she pouted, "In Vermont, where my parents are. They're completely snowed in!"

"What are your parents doing Vermont?" I sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

"Visiting friends or something. But this means no Thanksgiving!" She was leaning against her bed looking like a lost puppy. I hated seeing Alice sad. She was normally so bouncy and optimistic that seeing her upset was just not right.

I racked my brain for something to cheer her up, "Well, are you still flying home? I bet it'll be really nice to be home even if your parents aren't there."

She looked even sadder, "No, we're not going home. There's no point without them being there!" My heart broke at her gloom, "We've already canceled our flight."

I got off my bed and went to give her a hug, "Well, I'll be here too. It won't be so bad."

Then an idea hit me.

"Hey, how would you feel about having our own Thanksgiving?"

She looked up at me still sad, "I can't cook."

"Well, that's OK, I can!" I jumped up and down uncharacteristically, trying to get her happy and bouncing again. Alice Cullen without bounce is like … like… I can't even think of an analogy but it's eerie. Anyway, I stopped after a second because it hurt my head. "I'll make a turkey and stuffing and all the trimmings, I promise."

She looked at me with pleading eyes, "Can I help?" she asked, the way a little kid asks for candy, by giving the candy holder a look that's too heartbreaking to resist.

"Of course!"

Suddenly she was happy again, "Oh YAY Bella, this is going to be so awesome! Okay, we have to tell everyone else!" She bounced again, and I sighed with relief. The _real_ Alice was back!

"Yes and I have to go grocery shopping and start cooking."

"But it's not until tomorrow!" Alice looked at me like I was crazy.

I just laughed, "I know silly, but you have to prep. Marinate and such, you know. Plus, we don't want to leave it all until the last minute."

"Good point," she ran to the door, "I'm going to tell everyone else."

"Ask them what their favorite Thanksgiving dish is. We'll try to work everything in."

Two hours later we had all bundled up, driven through the snow (I let Rosalie drive my SUV since it fit us all better) and were at the grocery store with Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie and Edward. Everyone was excited for our makeshift Thanksgiving meal and all wanted to help. Jasper and Rosalie's parents were with the Cullen parents in Vermont and were also stuck. This reminded me that I had to talk to Alice about my discovery at the library last night. But that would have to wait until later.

"OK, we'll definitely need frosted flakes," Emmett said, pushing our cart towards the cereal aisle.

"WHAT!" Rosalie stared at her love with an incredulous expression on her perfect face, "What on earth do we need frosted flakes for?"

"Thanksgiving breakfast!" he looked at her like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I laughed at his expression, "Fine, _you_ can get frosted flakes for Thanksgiving breakfast, but you better leave a lot of room for dinner."

Emmett rolled his eyes at me, "Bella, _please_. No one can pack it away like I can," he rubbed his belly proudly.

Rosalie shook her head in disbelief as we moved towards another aisle.

"OK, we need mashed potatoes, so lets go to the produce aisle." Alice cut in.

We headed over there and got a sack of potatoes and a few other ingredients. We were all laughing and excitedly planning our dinner. Rosalie insisted on making candied yams and salad. Alice was in charge of potatoes and cranberry sauce (which I would be helping her with). I, being the only one who really knew how to cook, took over the turkey, pumpkin pie, stuffing and cornbread. The boys had volunteered for the drinks and clean-up.

"And now we need… marshmallows." Rosalie said, checking her list and crossing off the things we already had in the cart.

Jasper looked at his twin sister and rolled his eyes, "No, not _those_, you need the mini ones. Mom uses the mini ones."

"Well, they're out of mini ones!" Rosalie snapped at him, "And my yams will be just as good as moms!"

Jasper muttered something under his breath.

"OK, turkey time!" Alice said excitedly as we made our way to where the turkeys would be. Jasper picked up his tiny girlfriend and carried her piggy-back as we walked. They really were so perfect together. I mind battled my heart as I wished that their love would last forever; I couldn't think of anyone two people who deserve to be happy more than Alice and Jasper, except maybe Rosalie and Emmett.

I couldn't help but glance over at Edward. His eyes met mine briefly before I looked away, blushing furiously. I could've sworn I saw him smirk, but I refused to look back to make sure.

"Where are the turkeys?" Alice asked as we reached an empty refrigerated bin reading '_Thanksgiving Turkeys_'.

"Maybe they're keeping them somewhere else." I put in helpfully.

"I highly doubt that," Alice countered.

Rosalie went over to a worker, "Excuse me, but do you have any turkey's left?"

The pimply worker couldn't have been older than fifteen. He was clearly flabbergasted by Rosalie's beauty and looked like he was about to faint when she spoke to him.

"Uh, hello?" she said again to him, waving her hands in front of his face. I turned around to hide my laughter behind Jasper and Alice who were both biting their lips trying not to laugh. Emmett had his hand covering his mouth and covering a huge grin.

"Um," came a very squeaky voice, "W-we ran out of turkeys… I-I'm sorry," and he looked it. In fact, he looked like he was going to faint. He bid a very high-pitched farewell and half ran away from us.

When enough time had passed for him to be safely out of earshot, I couldn't hold it back any longer and let out a huge laugh. Emmett's booming laugh followed, then everyone else joined in.

"Now what are we going to do?" I asked.

"Well, we can have Thanksgiving chicken," Alice suggested, "or ham."

"What about To-furkey?" Rosalie suggested.

"Ew! No way!" Edward contorted his face to show that he was disgusted… and he _still_ looked amazing. Life just wasn't fair.

"Ok," I chimed in, "Thanksgiving chicken it is."

--

* * *

We stopped at another store to get pots and pans (none of us had any, not even Jasper, and he had a kitchen.), and cooking utensils as well as napkins, paper towels, oven mitts and such. Everything was Thanksgiving themed, thanks to Alice. Then we all headed to Jasper's apartment to unload.

Jasper's campus apartment was like a huge bachelor pad. He had a modern looking kitchen off to the corner with a bar separating it from his large dining room, in which he had place a pool table and a dart board. His living room was composed of a very large and comfortable black leather L-shaped sectional couch, with a sleek black coffee table and matching side table next to one end of the sofa. On the other side there was a tall, stylish lamp. There was a huge TV with many video games facing the larger side of the sofa and a very cozy looking La-Z-boy chair off to the side. The whole place was like something out of a magazine.

I had asked Alice why Rosalie hadn't gotten an apartment like this and she had told me that this apartment was meant for them to share, as it had two bedrooms, but Rosalie preferred the single dorms… probably because of her proximity to Emmett.

Edward turned put on some music as we unpacked everything in the spacious kitchen. Then the boys went to play video games while we prepared. By the time we had finished marinating the chicken, peeling potatoes and readying everything for tomorrow, they were already taking bets on the game.

Alice and I started a game of pool. I was dreadful. She kept giving me pointers until I shot a ball directly across the entire room, nearly getting Edward in the head. That's when I gave it up.

"Hey, Lice, don't let Bella near the darts, OK?" Emmett said, not taking his eyes off his game.

"No problem. And don't call me Lice" Alice said.

I took the opportunity to talk to Alice and Rosalie about my discovery in the library.

"How come you guys never told me your grandparents knew mine?" I asked them.

I noticed that Rosalie did a small double take at my words, missing the cue ball completely, "What?" she said, composing herself.

I told them about how I saw my grandparents in pictures with theirs. "Isn't it strange that each generation hung out with each other? That can't just be a coincidence."

"Well, they've all kept in touch, so their kids were bound to know each other." Alice shrugged nonchalantly.

"Yes, I suppose that's true," I considered, "but the more I think about it the weirder it seems. I noticed that in the picture my grandmother was wearing a strange looking ring. It wasn't clear in the picture, but I looked at all of her friends, and they all had it too."

Alice and Rosalie glanced at each other.

"And also, when I looked back at my grandfather, he was wearing a similar ring, and so were his friends."

"What are you saying our families were in a cult?" Rosalie asked as though it were ridiculous.

"No, not a cult, but maybe a fraternity or sorority of some sort?" I asked them, "Did your parents ever mention anything about it?"

"Nope, my dad never joined a fraternity when he was here," Rosalie responded.

"Neither did my parents, they both attended this school." Alice mentioned as she continued to beat Rosalie at pool.

I was quiet. There was something to this. My mother had always told me that her mother had the most amazing experiences in college and how she always talked about wanting her daughter to attend, just as her and her predecessors had done. I wonder if there was more to it than that.

They both looked at me with unreadable expressions.

"This all sounds insane, doesn't it?" I blushed a little.

Alice smiled at me, "Just a bit, but its ok. Honestly, though Bella, school is hard enough without worrying yourself about this stuff too."

I couldn't just let it go, but I didn't want to tell Alice that, "Yea, maybe you're right." I didn't meet her eyes as I said it though. "OK, give me another shot at pool. I think I can keep the balls on the table this time."

* * *

**Mysterious, I know. If you've figured out what the secret is, please don't let it out. PM me and I will tell you if you're right or not. I wouldn't want to ruin in for others. :) **


	11. Friends

We had stayed at Jasper's place that night, (it was much too cold out to walk back to the dorms and we were so cozy and comfortable here) watching movies and joking around. Emmett and Jasper had an epic wrestling match which tore through the living room and ended up on top of the pool table. Finally they decided to call it a draw when they each got too tired to continue and we all continued to watch movies.

Eventually everyone got tired and headed off to their sleeping quarters; Alice followed Jasper to his room and Emmett and Rosalie slept in the spare bedroom. Edward and I were left to share the large sectional sofa.

"You should take the large side," I said to him as I got up and moved to the smaller side, "you're taller."

He went off and came back with pillows and blankets, "Here you go," he said, handing me one of each. "Are you really tired, or do you mind if I put in a movie… I'm not that sleepy yet."

"Nope, I'm actually not that sleepy yet," I said.

He picked up a DVD case and put another movie into the player.

"What did you pick?" I asked.

"You'll see," he said with a wicked grin. He lay on the sofa with his head towards mine. I couldn't help but notice how close we were to each other.

I curled on my side, and pulled the blanket tighter around me as I rolled my eyes as the title came up; Resident Evil. Great. "Seriously, you could've at least picked a decent zombie movie. This one is ridiculous."

"Hey, this is a good one!" He laughed.

I couldn't help rolling my eyes, as the main character wakes up naked in the shower. "Of course she's naked, why wouldn't she be?"

"The nudity is essential to the plot."

I laughed as we continued to watch. "Oh, of _course_ she would put on a dress to go fight. Why not?"

"Short skirts give you flexibility to fight," he argued in mock seriousness.

"And you would know this how? Have you ever worn a short skirt?"

"That's for _me_ to know and _you_ never to find out," he turned his head up to grin at me. I cracked up.

"I suppose _you_ would put on something completely typical to fight zombies," he joked, "like black leather pants and jacket?"

"Actually, I wouldn't volunteer to go fight zombies in the first place."

"Coward."

We continued to talk about how ridiculous the movie was until we were both getting sleepy. I unconsciously moved my arm above my head and accidentally grazed his hair with my fingers.

It was the softest thing I'd ever touched. I quickly moved my hand back as an electric current passed through me.

Edward turned on his side, towards me, "Bella," he began hesitantly, "I'm really very sorry about what I said to you the night before Alice's birthday. I was angry, but I never meant any of it. I'm sorry." He really did sound so sincere.

I lifted my face up to see his, "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said what I did either. I don't really think that."

"It's ok. I don't really think you're boring or anything, Bella," his eyes looked sad, "I don't think that at all."

We were silent for a minute or two, before he spoke again, "Your words actually had quite the affect on me." He admitted in a near-whisper.

"Really?" my voice came out breathy.

"Of course. Why else did you think I dealt with Lauren for so long? She's not exactly the brightest crayon in the box, if you know what I mean." He curled up his lip in disgust.

I couldn't stifle the giggle that came out of me, "I'm so sorry. But I'd be lying if I said your words didn't have an affect on me also."

"Really?" he sounded somewhat amused.

"Of course. Why did you think I went to that stupid sorority party?"

He was no longer amused, "I'm sorry Bella," he sounded upset and angry.

"No, no!" I explained, "Stop feeling bad. What happened there was in no way your fault. You were my hero that night," I admitted sheepishly.

He didn't say anything.

"Edward?"

It took a minute for him to answer, "Yes?"

"Thank you again for saving me that night. I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough." I said this in a whisper.

"No problem." He grinned at me, "actually I should be thanking _you_."

"Why?"

"Because you saved me from Lauren."

I laughed, "she couldn't have been _that _bad, Edward. You picked her, didn't you?"

"Well…" he wrinkled his nose, looking so very cute, but I tried not to pay too much attention to that, "actually she came on to _me_ so, I really didn't have much of a choice."

I laughed even harder.

He looked at me with a questioning look, "And just what is so funny?" he said in mock annoyance.

"You!" I said finally, "It's not like she had a gun to your head! You could've said no."

He didn't answer, but he had a smirk on his face.

"So are we friends now?" I asked, with embarrassment. I could feel my face flushing and I was glad it was dark.

"I would like that," he whispered, "I would hate not being your friend, Bella."

My heart stuttered and picked up again at double time.

"Good. I really didn't like not being on speaking terms with you." I admitted.

He smiled, "So, _friend_," he began, "can you answer one of the greatest mysteries of women for me?"

"Depends," I smirked, "Ask and we shall see."

"Why is it that girls always go to the bathroom together?"

I laughed, "Well, to talk about you boys and plan our next move, of course. Didn't you know that women rule the world? Where did you think we got together to plot our takeover?"

He laughed, "I should've known."

We talked a little more and fell asleep soon after. 


	12. Thanksgiving

**Thank you thank you thank you for all the awesome reviews, I'm very pleasantly shocked at how much you're all enjoying the story so far! **

* * *

Thanksgiving Day started with a bang. Quite literally. 

Emmett was up getting his 'Thanksgiving breakfast' frosted flakes and accidentally dropped a bowl. It landed with a heavy clatter on the floor, thus waking me and Edward up with a start.

"Thanks a lot Emmett," I said to him as he chuckled.

"Sorry," he said.

As I got up and stretched, Alice and Rosalie came from the rooms. "I need to go back to the dorms to shower and stuff. You guys coming?" I asked them.

They agreed. Edward and Emmett would go back later. Apparently, Emmett had to get something for dinner tonight.

"It's a surprise," was all he would say when asked about it.

It took the better of three hours for us girls to lazily shower, get dressed, bundle up for the cold weather and get back to Jasper's to start dinner. When we got back, Emmett and Edward were gone. Jasper was sitting in the living room reading.

I immediately turned the oven on preheat and took the stuffed and seasoned chicken out of the fridge. Then we started working on the rest of the food.

Alice, who had less cooking experience than anyone, was so excited until she realized that she actually had to _wait_ for the potatoes to boil. She's not the most patient person.

"Can't we speed it up? How about we microwave them?" She suggested.

We laughed. " Alice, trust me, you can't microwave up some mashed potatoes." Rosalie said shaking her head as she chopped tomatoes.

"But what do I do in the mean time?" Alice whined.

Thankfully, Jasper came over and helped her with the cranberry sauce (which was starting to look like cranberry _juice_). "I think you'll need more sugar, love" he told her sweetly.

Edward came back soon and insisted on helping after removing his winter coat and washing his hands.

"Where's Emmett?" Rosalie asked him.

"He's not back yet? He told me he was coming back here after he showered."

Rosalie wiped her hands and picked up her cell phone to call Emmett but got no answer.

"He probably went to get drinks," Jasper said to her.

"Where? Everything's closed on Thanksgiving." She paced around the room a few times.

Not long after, we heard a knock at the door. "Happy Thanksgiving!" Emmett's voice boomed from the other side.

"It's open," Alice called out to her brother.

"Uh," we heard Emmett hesitate, "Actually, could you open it for me, my hands are tied."

Jasper got up to let him in, but before he could the door opened and in came…

A turkey!

A real live turkey came waltzing in to Jasper's apartment.

I screamed as soon as I saw the thing and ran as far away from it as possible. Rosalie joined me. It was huge! Like a mini Emu only weirder and fiercer.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Jasper screamed at Emmett, "Get that thing out of here!"

Edward was doubled over in laughter; Alice was staring at the thing confusedly. Rosalie and I were cowered in the corner of the kitchen.

The turkey gobbled its way over towards the kitchen and we screamed even more. I ran over to stand on top of the pool table, Alice let out a high-pitch shrieked and moved out of it's way.

"Oh my gosh, _that's _a turkey?!" Alice stared at it, "it's so GROSS looking!"

"Ew, get it away from the food!" I shouted from my position.

Rosalie screamed as it made its way over to her, "Ew! How?! EMMETT CULLEN!"

But Emmett was holding his sides from laughing so hard. He had followed the turkey into the apartment.

I instinctively grabbed a pool stick and threw it at Rosalie, "Here!" I said to her as I threw it.

Rosalie caught it easily and jabbed at the Turkey, which ran away from her, gobbling loudly.

Seriously, this was the most disgusting animal I'd ever seen. It was huge as far as turkeys go and dirty, and it had a very long neck and a gross sagging thing under its head. And it made the most awful noise.

I will never eat turkey again.

The thing came towards the pool table, and I was terrified. "Ew!" I shrieked, grabbing come pool balls and throwing them at it. That only seemed to anger it. It was tall enough to bend its tiny, creepy looking head over the edge of the table and it started pecking its beak towards me, almost getting my feet.

I screamed bloody murder. "EMMETT THIS IS NOT FUNNY! GET IT AWAY FROM ME!!!"

I looked over at anyone for help, panicking, but Emmett was still cracking up and Jasper, who was ready to kill him before, was laughing also. Edward was still laughing but he went quickly outside and grabbed the huge cage from outside the front door and brought it in.

Emmett walked over and grabbed the pool stick from Rosalie, who looked like she was going to kill him, and helped Edward put the turkey back in its cage. Well, it did _not_ want to go in without a fight. The thing pecked at the stick and at Edward as it inched its way around the room. I was paralyzed in the middle of the pool table, avoiding it's beak.

Finally, Alice grabbed a pool stick also, and cut it off from behind. Between the three Cullens, they got it back into its cage.

"There," Emmett said, "no big deal."

Rosalie was staring at him with her hands balled into fists. Alice, Edward and Jasper were trying not to laugh. I was still frozen on top of the pool table.

"What?" Emmett asked innocently as he took in the murderous look on Rosalie's face.

"You…" she whispered menacingly. Her tone did not ease my current state of fear. "You imbecile!" She gave him a hard smack on the back of the head and stomped off into the spare bedroom.

"Oh come on, Rose," he said going after her, "it was funny! Admit it…" his voice died as the door to the room slammed.

"Wait, Emmett!" Jasper called, "you have to get this thing out of here! NOW!" he followed Emmett and left the main room.

Alice was looking at the thing as though fascinated. "It's so weird looking," she said amazedly and slightly grossed out.

The turkey was looking at her menacingly and it suddenly pecked towards her. She shrieked at jumped back. "Stupid ugly bird!" she hissed at the cage. The turkey gobbled at her menacingly.

Edward looked up at me from beside the pool table, "Bella, you can come down now," Edward said to me, holding back a laugh.

But I was still frozen in fear, completely unmoving, eyes wide open and unblinking.

"Bella?" he sounded more worried now. "Bella are you ok?" He jumped onto the table and came right in front of my paralyzed form. "Bella!" he shook my shoulders.

"Oh my gosh, Bella, what's wrong?" Alice was frantic, seeing that I still hadn't moved. She joined Edward on the table and was staring at me, extremely worried.

My eyes were still wide and unblinking, but my mouth moved and finally formed a word.

"Kill," my voice came out in a whisper.

"What!" Alice was scared now, "oh no! She's gone insane! Bella snap out of it!"

Edward was looking at me, scared.

"Maybe we should slap her," Alice suggested.

He ignored his sister and repeated my name softly, "Bella?"

But I repeated the word and one more, "kill Emmett," I said. Then I blinked. My shock and fear turned to anger.

Edward had a look of relief on her face and Alice just laughed and hugged me. "Don't worry," she said, hopping off the table, "we will. All in due time, Bella."

I was still fuming as Edward helped me off the table. I picked up the pool balls I had thrown at the turkey off the floor and Edward placed the sticks back in their place.

"How about I help you guys make dinner?" He volunteered.

--

* * *

I cheered up a lot, especially after Emmett came out of the room looking like a dog with its tail between its legs and mumbled an apology to everyone. The thing was driven to the woods by the Emmett and Jasper as the rest of us stayed behind and got dinner ready. 

It turned out really good. Even Alice's cranberry sauce came out good (a little watery but still very edible). She even made the gravy afterwards. I was thankful we had chicken because I don't think I could ever look at a turkey again. After we were stuffed to the brim, I suggested we take a break before we had dessert. We all collapsed in the cozy living room, watching a hilarious Christmas movie and eventually falling asleep. It was a really great Thanksgiving.

When I woke up the next day, my hands were above my head again, near Edwards's hair. But they weren't alone. Edward had his hands above his head also, touching mine. We were in the same position we were in the other night on the L-shaped couch.

I had to resist the strange urge to intertwine my fingers in his. I softly removed my hands, careful not to wake him. But no such luck.

"Bella?" he said, groggily.

"Yea," I said softly, "sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep."

"mmhmm?"

I chuckled softly at his expression. He had his eyes closed, his eyebrows furrowed slightly but his lips in a slight smile.

"Bella?" he asked again. My goodness, even half asleep, his voice still sounded like silky velvet perfection.

"Yes?" I chuckled at his morning confusion.

He finally opened his eyes, looking at me and smiling a beautiful crooked smile that took my breath away. He was so beautiful. "Hi." He said.

I had to remember how to breathe. "Uh… hi" I smiled back at him after regaining my composure.

Alice came into the room wearing one of Jasper's Meyer University sweatshirts, which was humongous on her. "Good morning," she sang.

"Good morning," I answered her. I looked down at my own comfy velour suit that I'd worn all of yesterday, "I think I may have to go back to the dorms to shower again."

"No need," Alice said, "I brought your toothbrush and a change of clothes for you. It's too cold and snowy out to go anywhere. There are towels in the bathroom."

" Alice you are a life saver!" I exclaimed and jumped off the couch to hug her. I had not been looking forward to walking back to the dorms in this weather. Knowing me, I'd slip on the icy parts and break something. I went to the bathroom, showered, brushed my teeth and put on the comfy and very pretty midnight blue sweat suit Alice brought for me.

Everyone took their turn in the bathroom and put on very comfortable clothes of some kind. Alice insisted on taking pictures before Emmett declared that it was time for breakfast.

"We never had desert last night, so we may as well just use that for breakfast," I said to him.

"Oooh awesome! I've never had pie for breakfast." Emmett excitedly made his way over to the kitchen and cut slices for everyone, "you're not expecting me to serve you, are you?" He asked, noticing how we all remained in our lounging positions in the living room.

"Well after your little stunt yesterday," Rosalie rolled her eyes at her love, "that's the least you could to."

Emmett complied, sulking and served us all breakfast in the living room. We hung around all day, lazily chatting and laughing, playing pool or darts, listening to music and just having a very relaxed snow day. We reheated leftovers and ate those, by the time I decided to head back to the dorms, all the leftovers were gone.


	13. Letters

**Hey everyone, thank you so much for all the positive birthday wishes. My birthday was officially on the 11****th**** but we celebrated before that. Thanks for all the amazing reviews, they were the perfect birthday gift!**

* * *

That night, Edward and I headed back to the dorms, not wanting to sleep on the couch again. He walked me to my door, but he didn't leave like he normally does. Instead he followed me inside and flopped down on my bed. 

"Hey!" I protested.

He sighed contentedly, hugging my favorite pillow, "this bed is ridiculously comfortable. How do you get up in the mornings?"

I rolled my eyes, "I have an alarm. Don't get too comfortable, buddy, that's where I'm sleeping tonight."

"We'll see," he chuckled into my pillow.

I shook my head and walked over to hang up my coat and scarf. That's when I noticed an envelope on my desk. It was a made of crisp beige parchment paper. On it, in very elegant black calligraphy, my first name was written in the center; Isabella.

Curiously I picked it up and opened it. Inside was a folded up piece of parchment paper with a letter written to me in the same elegant calligraphy:

_Dear Isabella,_

_Some may argue that the path to discovering one's true self is a life long journey. However one cannot be expected to readily follow that great voyage without the knowledge of one's past._

_We applaud your great perception in the correct assumption of your family's legacy within the walls of this institution and assure you of it's greatness, however mysterious it may appear to one such as yourself, Isabella Hayden. Take comfort in the fact that you are not alone._

_Hence, you can choose to follow that blind path to uncovering the truth of your family, which may, or may not, lead you to the answers which you seek._

_If indeed you choose this option, be warned, dear friend, that with caution thou must proceed, for the road is one such rocky and treacherous. Trust in us invisible patrons is essential._

_Take time to decide how likely you may be to travel down this road which is hidden from the eyes of most. You must be ready and willing to sacrifice and change, for an inner transformation is surely inevitable._

_Of this path's perils consider yourself warned._

_The previously mentioned terms and conditions will not waver. No questions are to be asked._

_Regardless of your answer of whether or not to proceed, do not let it slip your mind that our anonymity is Key._

_Tell No One_

_Of this final condition we shall be certain you have complied before any further steps are taken._

_A simple 'yay' or 'nay' reply will be requested from you at a later time. We suggest you use this time to decide upon what you truly desire and what you are willing to lose._

_We shall be in touch._

_-Ť£-_

_-- _

I was in shock. I read over the letter a few more times, making sure I was reading it correctly.

The thought crossed my mind that it could've been a joke, done my Alice or Emmett. I had talked to Alice about it and she could've easily planted this on my desk. But I'd been with Alice the whole time. Would she have told anyone about it? I had to find out. If it was a joke, it was certainly a very mean one. I stepped into the bathroom with my cell phone, not wanting Edward to hear, and called Alice who answered groggily.

"Alice," I said as she picked up the phone, "did you tell anyone about what I told you the other night? About what I found in the library? Did you leave a note on my desk? Is this a joke?" I said all this very fast.

"Whoa whoa, Bella, slow down," she croaked sleepily, "now what are you talking about? What note? What joke? Is this still about the turkey?"

"No," I said, "listen, did you tell anyone about what I told you the other night?"

"About your family and our families and the cult thing?" she asked, "no."

"Did Rosalie?"

"No. Bella we've all been together since then. Why do you ask?"

I was about to tell her, but I hesitated, remembering the warning on the note; _Tell No One_. "Are you sure you didn't say anything? Maybe you said something to Emmett and he thought he'd play a joke on me?" I frantically grasped at straws.

"No, Bella, the only people that know are you, me and Rosalie. Why?"

I hesitated, "No reason. Sorry to wake you."

"Are you OK, Bella? You sound a little shaken up."

"I'm fine. Goodnight." I hung up and leaned against the counter, still clutching the note. I read it over a few more times before heading back out into the room. Edward was passed out on my bed, but I was too preoccupied to be annoyed. I changed into my pajamas, turned off the light and curled up on Alice's bed.

It was a while before I fell asleep. Who sent me this? Was it a joke? The only people that knew about all my family stuff were Alice and Rosalie, so, I suppose they had to have something to do with it. But then again, there was that library attendant guy who kept asking me what I was looking for and why. But how would he have gotten into my room? How would he even know who I was or where I lived?

I couldn't try to figure that out now. But what if the note was real? Who were these people? These _invisible patrons_ as they had referred to themselves? The note was very cryptic yet full of information. If it was real then there was definitely a group at the school that my family members had belonged to; some kind of secret society.

If I agreed to their terms then they would tell me about my family. At least that's what the note led me to believe. But there were consequences; _'of this path's perils consider yourself warned'_. They had also said that it wasn't certain that I'd get the answers I wanted and I might have to give something up, lose something; _'We suggest you use this time to decide upon what you truly desire and what you are willing to lose'_. Were they going to hurt me? Take me away from here? I certainly didn't want that. If they'd contacted me when I first entered school, then perhaps I would have had nothing to lose. But now I had friends that I'd grown extremely close to. Would I have to give them up?

All in all it was a bittersweet note. It was beyond cryptic and that fact was annoying me. And what did they mean by _'we will be in touch'_? When? And where?

In all my worry, I couldn't help but admit to myself that I wanted to know about my family, at almost any cost. And I was excited by the fact that the Hayden's had a 'legacy' here. Speaking of which, they called me 'Isabella Hayden', so they must know something about me. I was slightly afraid of what was to come. Should I pursue this "_\'blind path'_ as they called it?

But as I drifted off to sleep, the quote on my grandmother's picture kept repeating in my mind; '_With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity…'_

_-- _

* * *

**Meyer University Inquirer**

TURKEY ON THE LOOSE!

School officials are baffled as to how a wild turkey was spotted making its way across campus on Monday morning. Wild turkeys are not native to the surrounding areas. This particular turkey decided to sit at the entrance to the Meyer Main Building and peck at anyone trying to enter the doors. The Dean of Students is currently in the hospital sustaining quite a few turkey-inflicted injuries and will need to stay there for at least a week. Animal control came to pick up the unruly animal and remove it from the campus in the mid afternoon. They suggested that it was probably a Thanksgiving hoax. School officials and Campus Security are currently investigating this theory.

--

* * *

**You know what to do…**


	14. A New Term

The next weeks went by without any word from my "invisible patrons" as I'd come to refer to them (it's how they referred to themselves in the letter). I was beginning to think that it was in fact hoax until I went to the library again and looked over the yearbooks again, searching for any clues whatsoever. 

I knew that if it was true, then the Cullens and the Hales would know about it or were connected in some way. After all, if my relatives were involved, then theirs were also, considering how many photographs linked them together. However I couldn't be sure if they were involved. They certainly didn't act as if anything had changed. Everything went back to normal (or so that's the way it seemed).

And of course there was always the little voice in the back of my head that kept repeating those three words of caution; _Tell No One_.

Finals week came and I was spending copious amounts of time in the studio, drafting and working on my model. I barely saw any of my friends, since everyone was busy studying. Finally the term was over. I wished my friends a very happy holiday and flew back to Forks.

--

* * *

**(After the Holiday Break)**

I had planned on getting back to campus early but my plane was delayed so it was late in the afternoon when I finally landed. I made my way down to the baggage claim, and heard a very familiar voice.

"Bella?"

I spun around when I heard Alice's voice, but I didn't see anything as a tiny blur knocked me off my feet and to the floor, hugging me furiously.

"Alice!!" I squealed excitedly from the floor, and hugged her back.

When we finally got up, we were both laughing so hard and jumping up and down in joy.

"I thought you were coming earlier!" she said to me, hopping still.

"My plane got delayed. What about you? I thought you weren't coming in until tomorrow."

"Nah, we changed flights! Come on, you can share a cab with us back to campus." We went to grab our suitcases, bundled up some more and headed outside where I saw Emmett and Edward.

"Hey!" I said to them.

Emmett beamed, "Bella!" he gave me a hug.

I returned the hug and then turned to Edward, who beamed at me and pulled me in for a hug also. My heart stuttered at his touch, but I hugged him back, relishing the feeling and holding on to him for just a bit longer than necessary. When we finally let go I felt a little weak at the knees. I had missed him.

I quickly regained my composure. "Let's grab a cab," Alice said as she stuck out her hand.

I stopped her. "I left my car parked in the airport garage during the winter break. We can drive back in that."

"Cool!" Emmett said as they followed me to my car.

"Wow, Alice, I could've sworn you would have at least three suitcases," I said to her as she put her one medium sized suitcase into the trunk of the SUV along with the others, "I'm impressed!"

"Don't be," Edward cut in, "she's having the rest shipped to the dorms."

I laughed as I climbed into the driver's seat.

We arrived at the dorms and Edward helped me carry my stuff to my room, before going back to his floor.

"Aw, I missed this place!" Alice said as we walked back into the familiar dorm. I knew what she meant; this place had become a second home to me. I was truly happy to be back.

"Me too!" I said, throwing my black pea coat onto my bed. But the feeling of elation was replaced by one of apprehension when I spotted a beige parchment envelope on my desk.

The first thought that crossed my mind was that Alice was in the room. I didn't want her to see in case she wasn't involved (which I doubted, but still). I waited until she went into the bathroom to open it, taking the folded up parchment paper out of the envelope slowly, nervously.

_Dear Isabella,_

_We feel that we have given you ample to decide upon whether or not you would like to accept our offer. The time has come for you to make a decision._

_If you have decided to accept our mysterious offer we would be delighted to help you uncover the truth. We require you to wear a red blouse tomorrow, this will show us that your answer is 'yes'._

_If you do not wish to know the secrets of your family's legacy in this school or wish to pursue it in a less precarious way, then we shall not disturb you anymore and wish you the best in life's blessed journey._

_Remember, Miss Hayden, the road will not be a bright or easy one. It will be mystifying, magical, difficult, compelling, enlightening, and risky._

_We will be watching,_

_-Ť£-_

I had been waiting for the moment when this would arrive; a sign that this wasn't some hoax. In between the anxiety and reservations, there was something telling me that this was real and that I should follow it. Maybe it was just curiosity, but I desperately wanted to connect with my family. My grandmother had valued courage. So, for her, and for my mother, I would be courageous.

With my mind set, I put the note away, left the bathroom and turned to my wardrobe to search for a red blouse.

--

* * *

The next day, I woke up incredibly early due to the fact that I was much too anxious to sleep. I didn't have a red blouse so I nonchalantly asked Alice if she had one I could borrow, muttering something about dressing up for the first day of class. She just shrugged and picked out a very pretty long sleeved one for me to wear.

All day I was jumpy; on the look out for someone staring at me in a funny way or suddenly pulling me into an alley and kidnapping me. OK, maybe that last one was a bit of a stretch but my point is I'm a nervous wreck. I was only slightly relieved when nothing happened that day or the entire next week. Life went back to normal very quickly, but every day I expected some contact from the 'invisible patrons'.

Luckily, soccer tryouts were coming up soon so my mind had an outlet for this entire obsession. I had gone to the gym at home almost every day during the break and had continued that routine the during few days I'd been back at school. I had exactly three weeks to get myself in top shape before tryouts.

"OK, Bella, _focus!_" Alice said seriously, "which one do you like better?"

It was Friday and Jasper and Emmett were taking Rosalie and Alice skiing in the mountains for the weekend, to make up the time they spent apart during the holiday break. Alice, having been too exhausted from getting all her homework done early, didn't trust her own brain to pick appropriate outfits for the trip.

She was holding up two cool pairs of designer snow pants, one creamy beige and one black, "Alice, why not just take both?"

She considered that for a second, and then grinned, "You are a GENIUS!" She bounced back to her wardrobe and started throwing in items.

At that point Rosalie walked in, dragging a suitcase with her, "Alice!" she scolded, "you were supposed to be ready twenty minutes ago! We're leaving in a few!"

"I know!" Alice wailed, "But my brain isn't functioning right… I can't decide!"

It took us another half an hour to get Alice fully packed. By the time Emmett and Jasper arrived, they were ready to go.

"Perfect timing!" Alice hugged Jasper as he came into the room.

Emmett chuckled, "We kinda told you guys we were leaving an hour early, just to be on the safe side. We've actually got time to spare." I laughed along with Emmett and Jasper.

Rosalie scowled at her boyfriend, "Oh very funny," she said sarcastically.

"Good thinking," I said as Emmett and Jasper pounded fists triumphantly.

"Well since you boys have all this _time_," Alice mocked, "you may as well get all these bags into the car." She pointed to both her and Rosalie's suitcases.

Emmett groaned and grabbed Rosalie's bag as Jasper took Alice's and followed him out of the room. As they were leaving, Edward came in looking glum (and making 'glum' look incredible as only he could, but anyway…).

"Why the long face?" Rosalie asked him.

Edward scowled. "Lauren," he muttered, "she's left me fourteen messages on my phone. I don't know how to get rid of her. I might end up having to just get a new number."

Alice, Rosalie and I cracked up. That only made Edward sulk more.

"Sorry Edward," Alice giggled, "but that's what you get for being a womanizer. Maybe now you'll learn your lesson."

"Seriously, though," Edward continued, now getting comfortable on Alice's bed, "Fourteen?! Isn't that kind of overkill?"

"Well, she's clearly head over heels for you," Rosalie pointed out, "she's not giving up without a fight."

"Yea, Edward," Alice warned jokingly, "watch out, she might have gone crazy."

They continued to mock Edward until Emmett and Jasper entered the room again. "It looks like we're going to have to drive up separately," Jasper said, "too much luggage between the four of us to fit in my car."

"Yea," Emmett chimed in, "we'll race you up there."

"Not so fast," Alice spoke up, "it makes no sense to take two cars." She sighed as she looked around trying to find a solution to the problem, "What about if we just take less stuff. Or try to fit it into smaller suitcases."

"But between the skis, snowboards and everything, it'll still be two much," said Emmett, "I think we should just rent a car." They went through the possibilities of renting a vehicle and other options.

But they were missing the most obvious choice, I thought. "Um, hello?" I cut in. They all looked at me, "Why don't you guys just borrow my car?"

They were still gawking at me silently.

I _hated_ when people stared at me. "I'm just saying, it's bigger than any of yours, and it'll fit all your things easily." I could feel my face getting redder, "OK, stop staring at me!"

Emmett laughed at my little embarrassed outburst.

"Sorry Bella, but that's so nice!" Alice hugged me suddenly.

"Are you sure, Bella?" asked Jasper.

"Of course." I went over to my purse and grabbed my car keys without giving it a second thought, "Have an awesome weekend you guys!" I handed the keys to Jasper.

"Thanks so much, Bells," Emmett gave me a huge bone-crushing hug.

"Ow! Emmett…" I gasped as he hugged me, "I'm going to have trouble training for soccer tryouts with broken bones, you know."

He laughed and let go.

"Bella, this is awesome, we'll take really good care of your car, I promise." Rosalie hugged me as we all said our goodbyes.

"No worries," I assured her, "I trust you."

"You have a good weekend too, Bella," Alice said as she followed the rest of them out of the door, "do something other than studying and training."

I chuckled appreciatively, "I'll try."

They left, leaving me and Edward alone in my room. He was looking at me with a strange expression.

"What?" I asked self-consciously.

"That was really nice of you," he said, looking away.

I shrugged and walked over to the mini fridge, "no big deal." I said as I opened the fridge door and searched for something edible, not wanting to head over to the dining hall. But it was pretty bare. I would have to go grocery shopping soon.

"Hungry?" Edward asked from Alice's bed.

"Starving, actually," I closed the mini fridge door, "but I'm _so_ not in the mood for the dining hall tonight." I headed back to my bed and lay down.

"Hmm…" Edward thought for a second.

"Any ideas?"

"One," he said with a grin.

I waited for him to elaborate, "Care to share?" I said after not getting an answer from him.

He hopped of Alice's bed and walked over to my bed, standing over me, putting on a serious face, "Before I explain, I have two questions for you; first of all, are you busy tonight?"

"No," I was curious.

"No homework, parties or dates?"

I rolled my eyes, "No parties and definitely no dates,"

He continued, though I thought I saw his cheeks lifted as though he were hiding a smile, "Homework?"

"Not much this weekend, for once."

"OK, next question; do you trust me?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Do you trust me?" He grinned at me, unable to keep a perfectly straight face anymore.

I was bewildered, "what does that have to do with anything?"

"Bella-"

"Fine, yes, I trust you!"

He smiled, "Good. Wait here. Don't move."

"Wait, what about dinner?" but he was already gone. He moved really fast.

I sat in my bed, waiting for him to come back. Fifteen minutes passed and nothing. I sighed as got up and grabbed a book and my comforter, went over to the window seat and started reading to pass the time.

My stomach rumbled and I looked at my watch; it'd been over an hour since Edward had left. I was getting impatient and irritable. I stared outside at the snowy landscape of the campus. I was going to give Edward five more minutes but that was it.

Before the five minutes were up, though, there was a knock at the door. I got up.

I opened the door, "well it's about ti-" Edward was standing holding two large brown paper bags, "what's this?"

He let himself in and set the bags on the floor. I noticed that he wasn't wearing the same clothes he had on before. He had changed into some dark gray, comfy looking, cotton sweat pants and a dark green basic t-shirt that showed off his perfect torso. "Before I show you what is in here, you're going to have to change into comfortable clothes."

I was too bewildered to reply, instead I nodded and hid my smile as I went to my wardrobe, grabbing a pair of creamy light beige sweats with a matching loose-fitting hoodie and a simple aquamarine colored tank top. I went into the bathroom to change, wash my face, and fix my hair quickly. Not that it mattered, of course, but I didn't want Edward to see me looking too drab.

When I came out of the bathroom my mouth dropped. The main light was off and only the lamps in the room were on, but they were covered with some fabric, making the light in the room very soft and cozy. On both desks were many different dishes of food. Both beds were made perfectly and the pillows were fluffed making them look very comfortable.

"Edward," I gasped, "what did you _do_?" A smile was playing at my lips as I surveyed the room.

He smiled, "I decided that your act of kindness tonight entitled you to a special treat." He came over, grabbing both of my hands and pulling me into the room. I took immediate notice of how close he was to me. "On Alice's desk we have Italian food; pasta alfredo, chicken parmiagan, mushroom ravioli, bruschetta and garlic bread." He pulled me back towards my side of the room, "On your desk we have salad, dressings, beverages, and brownies for dessert."

He left go of my hand and handed me a plate, "Dig in."

I was still in shock, "Edward, this is amazing!" I was smiling brilliantly now, "How?"

"I had it most of it delivered." He shrugged as if it were no big deal, but I could see the satisfied smile lingering on his perfect face, "While I was waiting I baked brownies and went to the deli and got sodas and water bottles."

"Edward…" I had no words.

He held my gaze briefly, taking my breath away with the intensity of his stare, "Just dig in," he said and looked away.

Edward and I sat on the floor of my dorm room, stuffing our faces and talking. The soft lights made the atmosphere of the room very warm and relaxed.

"OK," he said, as we were making our way through the abundance of food. "What do I do about this girl? You're supposed to be the one with the advice."

"Hmm…" I thought for a moment in between bites, "Well, you should let her know that you're not interested. And _not_ by ignoring her."

"I didn't! I told her before the break that I didn't want to be anything more than friends. She doesn't seem to want to accept that as the truth."

I had to laugh at that, "Well I suppose it was only a matter of time before some girl refused to let the great Edward Cullen go."

He didn't respond. His eyes went to the floor.

"Edward?" I asked softly. "Are you alright?"

He sighed, "I feel like I've given you the worst impression of me."

His sad look made me feel bad for him, "well, at first, I'll admit that my impression of you wasn't great…" I confessed, speaking softly.

He looked back at me, beautiful green eyes hopeful, "And now?"

I grinned at him, "It's a lot better."

He smiled, "Good. I find that your opinion of me is vital to me. I don't know why that is." He added questioningly.

"Well, the feeling is definitely mutual," I blushed, "Your opinion means a lot to me too."

We were silent for a while as we finished eating. I was stuffed to the brim. I couldn't possibly eat anymore.

"My stomach is going to explode," I said, rubbing my belly, "but it was so worth it."

He laughed, "I'm glad. Well lets clean up and move on to the second part of the night."

"Second part?"

"Of course," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "no dinner would be complete without a movie."

He got up, taking our plates and taking them to the bathroom to clean. Chuckling, I got up and put the leftovers in the fridge.

When he came out of the bathroom, he put the plates away and turned to me, "Now, get comfortable."

I was baffled, "More comfortable? I'm already in pajamas."

"I mean get into bed," He smiled at me, trying not to laugh at my dumb moment.

"Oh," I blushed, then went to get into bed.

He went over to Alice's desk chair and picked up a small bag I hadn't noticed before, taking out a DVD case. From where I was sitting in bed, I couldn't see what it was.

"The Breakfast Club!" I exclaimed in excitement once he got the movie in the DVD player and the opening credits began, "I love this movie!"

He was smiling as he climbed into Alice's bed, "I know. Alice told me."

"She did?" I asked excitedly, wondering when he would've been talking to her about me. "When?"

He grinned sheepishly, "I _may _have called her and asked her…"

I was suddenly overjoyed, "Really?!" I couldn't help squealing. Edward just laughed at my expression.

And so we watched the movie; he laughed while I sang along with my favorite songs. We both laughed and rolled our eyes at the cheesier moments. When it was over I sighed contentedly.

"That was awesome," I had a huge grin on my face, "Thanks!"

He looked at me a smiled back, "You're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it." He yawned and flopped onto Alice's pillows.

"Are you sleeping over?" I asked, trying to contain the desire in my voice.

"Is that alright with you?"

"Yes!" I blurted out excitedly. He laughed. "I mean, I'm glad you're here." Oh crap, was that too much information? I didn't want him to think that I liked him. (Even though maybe I do… I don't know, my heart flutters every time we touch… does that mean I have feelings for him?)

He smiled at me, "goodnight Bella."

"Goodnight Edward."

--

* * *

**Thoughts, anyone?**


	15. New Term Pt II

_Previously__: "Are you sleeping over?" I asked, trying to contain the desire in my voice._

"_Is that alright with you?"_

"_Yes!" I blurted out excitedly. He laughed. "I mean, I'm glad you're here." Oh crap, was that too much information? I didn't want him to think that I liked him. (Even though maybe I do… I don't know, my heart flutters every time we touch… does that mean I have feelings for him?)_

_He smiled at me, "goodnight Bella."_

"_Goodnight Edward."_

--

* * *

A phone was ringing somewhere.

I realized that it was in the room. I opened my eyes; it was still really dark. It couldn't be later than 3:00 am.

The phone rang again.

_That's not the ringer on my cell phone_, I thought, my brain still numb with sleep. Then I remembered that Edward was here.

I heard him groan and looked over to Alice's bed to see his arm reaching for the phone on the bedside table, his face still buried in the pillow.

"Hello?" he picked it up without looking at the screen, putting the phone immediately to his ear. "What? … Sleeping obviously" he sounded very grumpy, "… why do you want to know? … Why? …… well, sorry, but no … well considering I'm half asleep, I don't think now is the best time … I'm sorry I gave you the wrong impression, but I already told you how I felt … no … still no … bye." He hung up.

"Anything important?" I asked groggily.

He turned his head towards me and smiled, "No. I'm sorry to have woken you. Go back to sleep."

I yawned, "OK, G'night." I heard him chuckle as I closed my eyes. But I couldn't go back to sleep.

After a few minutes I got up, grabbed a book, a mini book light and my blanket and went over to the window seat to read.

Edward lifted his head sleepily off the pillow and looked at me curiously.

"I can't sleep." I explained, "Is the light bothering you?"

"No." He lay back down and went to sleep.

I read my book, but ended up falling asleep about fifteen minutes into it. I was woken again by a light breeze. I noticed that I was moving, being carried to my bed by Edward. His touch was heavenly; I instinctively rested my head upon him as he carried me. I was very disoriented and after he put me in my bed and covered me with a blanket, I didn't let go of his arm.

"Edward?" I croaked out.

"Hm?"

But I realized how stupid I would sound if I asked him to stay in bed with me, which is what I really wanted, "Never mind." I let go of his arm. "G'night."

Our faces were inches apart. "Sweet dreams," he whispered, and then turned to go back to bed.

--

* * *

The next day, Edward and I ventured out into the freezing weather to breakfast, then went back to our own dorms to do some work and studying. In the afternoon, tired of homework, we even went to the gym together.

After our tiring workout (his in the weight room and me doing mostly cardio), we headed back to the dorms.

"Hey, after you clean up do you want to do dinner?" He asked me as we reached the entrance of Mason Hall.

"Sure, but its too freezing out to go anywhere," I said with a grimace, "we still have a ton of leftovers from last night, would that be OK?"

He smiled, "Perfect. Do you want to do another movie tonight also?" he pushed the button for the elevator once we reached it.

"Sure, but I don't have many to choose from."

"Just come on up to my room when you're done cleaning up. Emmett has a whole collection and he won't mind if we watch any."

"Sounds good," I answered and headed off towards my room once the elevator landed on my floor. After a long, hot shower, I dried my hair, leaving a few waves in it and letting it down, threw on a dark green velour track suit with a white tank top under, and headed out the door to Edward's room.

I knew Edward lived on the 10th floor, just three floors above mine and Alice's room, but I didn't know exactly which room was his. I walked along the 10th floor of Mason Hall searching for a sign of Edward's room. I didn't bring my cell phone, so I couldn't call. Suddenly, though, I heard his voice speaking to someone. I followed the voice.

"I told you before…" he was saying, "Now isn't the best time."

Someone responded in a flirty voice, "Don't be silly, Edward now is the perfect time…" It was a girl who responded seductively.

The conversation got clearer as I neared his door. It was halfway open so I just knocked lightly and walked right in.

Boy, was _that_ a major mistake.

Edward was standing up wearing only sweat pants, his hair was wet and he had a towel in his hand. Lauren was wearing the skimpiest shirt I'd ever seen and had her arms wrapped around him, pushing her lips onto his urgently. He didn't look pleased. One of his hands was pushing against her hip, clearly trying to escape her hold.

If a sudden incomprehensible feeling of annoyance hadn't come over me, I would've found it funny.

"Oh!" I gasped in surprise, "I-I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have just come in like that," I stuttered. They both turned towards me, suddenly acknowledging my presence. Lauren looked terribly annoyed while Edward looked flustered and slightly relieved. "I-I'm going to go. Sorry." I made to hide my now brilliantly red face, I turned and quickly rushed out of the room.

I barely heard Edward call my name as I half-ran to the elevator, but then decided against waiting for it and ran down the stairs and back to my room.

I was so mortified, and I couldn't even explain why. Even more than mortified I was definitely bothered by what I'd seen. Lauren all over Edward… touching him, _kissing_ him! It irritated more than I'd like to admit.

I needed to get my mind off of what I'd seen so I went to my favorite reading spot; the window seat. I grabbed a copy of _Pride and Prejudice_, an old favorite of mine, and cuddled up in the spacious and comfy window seat with my comforter.

But it wasn't long before Edward knocked on the door.

"Come in," I said, knowing who it was.

Edward walked in, with a DVD and sheepish smile.

"I'm sorry," I said before he could say anything, "I didn't mean to interrupt you back there. I should've knocked. If you made plans with Lauren tonight, I understand. You don't have to stick to our plans." I said, letting him off the hook.

"Bella," he began, his brow furrowed, "I didn't make plans with Lauren, or anyone else. I liked our plans. And you didn't do anything wrong. In fact, you kind of saved me back there."

I felt a little bit better at his words, "So what happened to Lauren?"

He grinned wickedly, "I think she finally got the hint when I pushed her off of me and told her that if she didn't stop calling me I'd have to get a restraining order against her."

I laughed and accidentally dropped the book in my hand. I reached down to get it without moving out of my seat, but I fell over. Before I could hit the floor, Edward caught me in his arms. He picked me up and set me on my feet.

"Thanks." I muttered, blushing.

"No problem," he smiled at me, "You saved me from Lauren, it only seems fair that I save you from yourself."

I rolled my eyes and walked over to the fridge to take out the leftovers. As we ate dinner he told me about Lauren's unexpected visit.

"It was her who called in the middle of the night last night," he explained, "she said she had a surprise for me and I needed to come to my room right away to receive it."

I laughed so hard at that, "Oh my gosh!" I couldn't believe the lengths some girls would go to in order to get to Edward. Actually, having seen him freshly out of the shower like I just had, maybe I could…

"And today, I was walking out of the bathroom and she was waiting on my bed." He had the funniest incredulous look on his face, "She attacked me! She practically _slithered_ off the bed, trying to be sexy, I suppose but coming up very short." He shuddered at the thought, "Then she came at me with this scary expression on her face… it looked like she was going to eat me! And every time I tried to push her off she'd just think it was a game and fight harder."

I was in tears of laughter by the time he finished his story. "I'm sorry Edward, but that's just too funny."

"Thank goodness you came in, or I don't know how I would've escaped." He shuddered at the thought.

Once we were done with dinner I went to my bed as he grabbed the DVD. "What movie did you pick?"

"Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

"No!" I whined.

He laughed at me, "Are you scared?"

"Yes!"

"Don't be," he said, "You'll be fine."

He went to Alice's bed and got under the covers.

I hid under my covers as the movie began.

"You have to watch," he warned with an evil grin.

"I will!" I assured him indignantly, though my comforter was covering everything but my eyes, "… I'm just getting ready for the scary parts."

I thought I heard him chuckle, but my attention was immediately brought to the TV screen where a scary looking woman just came out in the middle of the road. I watched in horror as the characters in the movie allowed her hit hitch a ride, knowing that what was coming was not good. The scary woman pulled a gun out of her dress; I pulled my covers up to right under my eyes. I screamed when I heard the gun shot and closed my eyes.

I looked over to Edward who was shaking with laughter. "How are you not afraid?!"

He shrugged, still laughing, "Your expressions are funny." I rolled my eyes at him. "Besides, it's ridiculous. First of all, where the hell did she get the stupid gun? And why did they pick her up in the first place? It's so absurd."

We continued to watch the movies in silence. I screamed a few times and hid a lot. Edward didn't even get spooked, but then again, I felt him staring at me more than at the movie. Then, finally, it was over.

Edward got up and turned off the TV. "Well, goodnight," he started walking towards the door.

"Wait!" I protested.

He turned around to face me, with a mocking and wicked grin on his face, "Yes?"

I bit my lip, "You can't just have me watch a scary movie like that and then make me sleep alone." I could feel my face getting red.

His grin turned into a brilliant smile as he chuckled, "I know. I was never planning on sleeping in my bed, I just wanted to hear you admit it."

I scoffed and turned around in my bed, facing away from him.

"Good night, Bella," I heard him say after he'd gotten into Alice's bed.

"Good night," I muttered angrily to him. Soon I was asleep.

I drifted off into a dream world where I was being chased by a man with a chainsaw and my legs weren't working properly, the way they sometimes aren't when you're dreaming, so I was running extra slowly but still trying to escape... Trying to get my legs to move and staying as silent as possible, I tried to escape. But he was catching up to me. He revved the chainsaw louder… it was coming closer… and closer … until…

"Bella!" the silky voice came, calling me away from my nightmare, "Wake up. It's just a dream."

"No!" I sat up suddenly in my bed, my heart racing. I pulled my covers aside and flew off my bed, shaking my legs and grabbing at them to make sure they were still attached and worked properly.

"Bella!" Edward said again, hopping off the bed and coming towards me, putting his hands on my shoulders and keeping me still, "It was a dream. Relax."

I was confused "A ... a dream?" I repeated, dumbfounded.

There was a smile lingering at his lips, "Yes." He answered.

"Oh." It had been a dream. Relief flooded through me as I sank to the floor. He came and sat down next to me.

"So that movie really did a number on you, huh?" he joked, trying hard not to laugh. I felt my face flood once again as I remembered my embarrassing behavior when I woke up.

I felt my face flush and hid my head, humiliated "Sorry," I muttered, "I thought my legs weren't attached… Did I wake you?"

"It's OK," he smiled at me, getting up again and extending his arm to help me get up. I accepted his hand. It felt very strong around mine.

"Thank you," I said.

"Come on," he said, leading me to my bed, "Let's get you tucked in."

I rolled my eyes, "You don't have to do that."

He smiled again, "I insist."

I climbed into bed and he brought the blanket up and sat on the edge. He began humming a sweet song and I found myself drifting off into a peaceful sleep. After a few minutes I felt him move to go back to Alice's bed.

The idea of him leaving frustrated me…"Stay." I said to him sleepily, out of the blue.

"I'll be right here," he whispered softly to me, leaning in closer… his breath tickled my ear, "I promise." He paused, "There's no where else I'd rather be, Bella."

Even in my sleepy haze, my heart filled with something unfamiliar. Love?

"Stay here," I whispered sleepily.

"Here where?"

I murmured something incomprehensible. Before I heard his answer I was asleep.

--

* * *

Mmmmm…. Blissful sleep… 

I was more comfortable than I had ever been. I was so warm and cozy. My arms was wrapped around something… something warm and strong.

I lazily opened my eyes, too comfortable to really care where I was but curiosity got the better of me. My face was leaning against someone's chest. It didn't make any sense.

But suddenly I felt my face flush red as I remembered last night; my dream, Edward comforting me … me asking him … to sleep on my bed! Oh no! Hot humiliation flooded me.

Edward's arms were wrapped securely around me as mine were around him. My face was leaning against his chest and his was leaning down towards the top of my head. Our bodies were as close as could be as we held each other.

As ashamed as I was for being so forward during the night, I was strangely content. This felt really good. _Snap out of it, Bella_, I scolded myself. I tried to think about how many other girls had probably woken up in this same position.

"Eh-em," I cleared my throat somewhat loudly, trying to wake him. He mumbled a few sleepy-unintelligible noises and pulled me tighter into him. I smiled in spite of myself and closed my eyes, enjoying the moment entirely too much.

_Bella, focus!_ The sane part of me reprimanded. I tilted my head up to look at his face. He was so handsome, that it was difficult for me to talk myself into moving from this perfect position. He looked so peaceful and content.

"Edward?" I whispered to him softly.

His picturesque brows furrowed slightly, "hmm?"

"Edward…" I repeated once again, still very softly.

His eyes opened, blinked quite a few times, then looked down at me. He seemed really perplexed for a few seconds as he gazed at my face. "Bella…" Against my better judgment I closed my eyes as my name escaped his lips, leaning my head back against his chest. Soon he tilted his head down and murmured a very happy and contented, "Good morning," against the top of my head.

"Good morning," I said back. I made to pull away from him but his arms were strong around me.

He frowned slightly, "Oh," he said, sensing that I wanted to get up and letting go of me. He released his grip. I pulled away slightly, not really wanting to get out of his embrace.

"I'm sor-"

"Sorry abo-" We both spoke at the same time.

He grinned, "You go first."

I blushed furiously remembering how I'd pretty much asked him to sleep in my bed with me, "I'm sorry about last night. I never should have suggested…" I could feel my face getting redder by the second. I probably looked like a tomato right about now.

He looked at me, unsure at first but his expression cleared upon seeing mine. He relaxed and smiled, "Don't worry about it, the pleasure was all mine, I assure you." He murmured again sleepily, closing his eyes again.

I closed my eyes, trying to focus. If I kept looking at his perfect face, I wouldn't be able to keep my head clear. "I'm sorry for making you stay in my bed…" My face was still red.

Edward sleepily threw his arm across me once again and pulled me closer, smiling happily as he snuggled into me. I found it hard to breathe… what was I saying?

"It's OK, believe me I didn't mind. You are unbelievably comfortable, you know that?" he joked.

I grinned, "Yea well, I'm part teddy-bear," I joked as I burrowed myself back into his chest.

He laughed softly into my hair. I'd never felt this elated in my life.

After a few minutes, I couldn't delay the inevitable any longer. It took every ounce of will power I had to get off that bed. Edward followed me unwillingly.

"Well, I'm going to go get cleaned up in my room," he said with a chuckle, "I'll see you later, Bella."

"See ya," I said before he left, "and thanks…"

"Anytime," His eyes held mine for a brief intense moment. He looked like he wanted to say something. I held my breathe waiting to hear him speak. But instead, he leaned in slowly and kissed my cheek. "I'll see you later, Bella." He said while looking into my eyes. Then he turned and left for his room.

_Oh God…, _I thought as I felt my insides melting into a puddle.

--

* * *


	16. Soccer Tryouts

**I can't put into words how happy it makes me to know that you guys look forward to reading this almost as much as I look forward to writing it. Thank you!!!**

--

* * *

Edward and I went back to normal after that weekend. I didn't focus too much on how much I enjoyed our weekend together, instead I focused all my energy into training. I was constantly running laps in the indoor field at the gymnasium building or practicing my corner kicks. 

Alice had become my own personal cheerleader; she was anxiously counting down until the tryouts and kept offering to train with me. It was the sweetest thing! She comes to the gym with me at night sometimes and does her own exercises while I do mine, just so that I won't have to go alone (although Edward usually comes too these days). She's really become my best friend.

It was finally the night before tryouts. Alice had been trying to keep me calm throughout the week, but somehow, that night brought with it fresh jitters. She decided that she would need extra help to keep my nerves at bay so she asked Jasper to come for a sleep over, knowing how good he was at calming people down.

I lay on my bed, tapping my foot into the air, going over some of my poorer moves in my head; figuring out how to work around them.

"Bella, you need your sleep," Alice called from her bed. After having successfully calmed me down a considerable amount, Jasper had settled on Alice's bed reading a book, with Alice's head on his chest.

"I know, but it's hard to sleep. I'm so hyper…"

Alice groaned, "Bella, you were tired 10 minutes ago! What happened between then and now?"

I shrugged innocently and gave her my best get-out-of-trouble smile, "I may have started thinking about soccer again…"

"Bella you promised!"

"I couldn't help it!" I whined.

"Bella," Jasper interrupted helpfully, "why don't you read for a while?"

Seemed like a good idea, "Okie doke," I hopped out of my bed and went to get one of my favorites.

"Uh Bella?" he intervened before I had a chance to choose a book, "nothing interesting. The point is to get you to sleep."

Alice jumped out of her bed and went to get a book from her side of the room. "Here." She said, handing me a very thick volume.

I looked at it skeptically, "_United States History_?"

"If that doesn't get you to sleep, nothing will."

I shrugged and took it to my bed.

I started at the beginning with a chapter called _Dividing the New World_.

I was asleep before I reached the next page.

--

* * *

The next morning there so many girls gathered in the indoor soccer field where the tryouts were being held. My stomach was doing back flips as I signed in. 

"Hey Bella!" I heard a familiar voice call out to me. I spun around to see Tanya waving me over.

"Tanya!" I ran over to her and two of her friends, "I almost forgot that you were going to be here."

"Are you nervous at all?"

"Petrified," I admitted with a little shiver.

Before we could get into more conversation, a sharp whistle blew in the field. I spun around to see the most frightening woman I'd ever seen beckoning everyone around her. She had a very thick build and an expression on her face that made me instantly aware that she was not someone to piss off.

"OK, ladies!" She bellowed, "For those of you who don't know me, I'm coach Graysly. Myself and my colleagues," she gestured towards the other intimidating looking adults in Meyer University Soccer sweatshirts or t-shirts, "will be evaluating you today to see how well you would fit into our team. If you know that you stink, please leave now and don't waste our time. This is for serious participants only. If you can't run 3 miles without stopping, please leave. If you can't pass a soccer ball, please leave. The rest of you gather around."

No one said anything as we circled closer towards her.

For about an hour we did a few different exercises, such as weaving between cones, passing drills, and a few other gruesome things that took a lot out of most girls. A few of them simply walked off the field, giving up. The more people left, the more tolerable Coach Graysly seemed to become.

Finally, when there were 40 girls left, the put us into two teams, the blues versus the reds. Tanya and I were both on the blue team. We waited our turn to join the game, patiently, going over some of the better moves some of the girls made and which we thought would make the cut.

Finally, we were up. The red team had the ball and one girl was making her way towards the goal, passing to another teammate.

_I don't think so,_ I thought triumphantly to myself as I intercepted the pass. I heard a few girls on the sides who were on our team cheer. But some girls were blocking me as I made my way back down the field. I spotted Tanya and passed her the ball. She expertly maneuvered her way down the field, bypassing a few of our opponents before passing to some other girl on our side. Unfortunately the girl didn't have a good handle on the ball and she accidentally let the other team get a hold of it.

It was a very tight game, as the ball went from side to side, almost making it to the goals. The goalie on our team made a fantastic save at one point. The reds had it again soon, though and they were passing it expertly until Tanya intervened, stealing the ball from the other team and passing to me, since there weren't many people around me. Before I could get a chance to think about the oncoming herd of girls heading in my direction, I saw a weak spot in their defense and took advantage of it, kicking the ball past the goalie and into the goal.

The blues cheered. But before too much celebration could go on, the whistle blew.

"Alright, ladies, good game." Coach Graysly yelled again, grasping onto her clipboard. Her expression was lighter than I'd seen it all day. Was that a smile? "We're going to deliberate who made the team or not soon. But before we do, we want each of you to complete a 2 mile run around this field."

A few groans filled the place.

"And that starts NOW!" the Coach roared. Unwillingly, us remaining survivors got up to complete the run, despite how tired we were from the non-stop drills and practice game.

I kept a good pace a finished with a very decent time, considering how tired I was. I was taking a drink of water when I noticed Tanya crossing the finish line, panting heavily. I took a second bottle of water and brought it over to her.

"Thanks," she stammered, drinking immediately.

I smiled, "no problem. So is it always this grueling?" I asked.

She chuckled and shook her head, "Nah, I think she's just trying to weed out the weak. The first few practices will be really tough, but after that it'll ease up."

We headed over to the benches to await the results. We were some of the first to complete the run so we figured we had a little while to go. Unfortunately for some of the slower girls, that wasn't the case. After another ten minutes, the coach blew her whistle again and beckoned everyone to gather around the benches.

"We would like to thank all of you for trying out, however we will only be taking about 25 of you. Of those 25, some of you will be first string and some second."

She began listing the names of girls, some shrieked in excitement, at which point Coach would pause momentarily, waiting for them to quiet down before she would continue, "Zimmerman, Kelly; second string … Williams, Terry; first string … Denali, Tanya; first string …"

Tanya smiled happily but remained quiet, "Yen, Whitney; first string … Markson, Holly; second string … Swan Isabella" I held my breath, waiting for the answer, "first string…" She continued to call out names but I was too excited to listen. Tanya and I pounded fists triumphantly.

We the name calling stopped, those who made the team stayed while those who didn't left. We were given uniforms, rule books, play books and training schedules before we were dismissed.

Tanya and I walked outside alongside a couple of our new teammates gabbing about the tryouts and upcoming practices before we split up and went each in our own direction. I waved goodbye as I made my way into Mason Hall to tell Alice the amazing news.

--

* * *

I stepped out of the elevator and began walking towards my room before I heard Rosalie call me name. 

"We're in here!" she called from her room which was down the hall from ours. I shuffled exhaustedly to her room where the rest of my friends were gathered.

"How'd it go?!" Alice bounced excitedly, looking more anxious than even I had while awaiting the results.

I decided to mess with her a little bit. I hung my head sadly and shrugged my shoulders.

Alice gasped, "No! Bella, you worked so hard! And you're so good! What happened?"

I was going to drag it on longer but I was bursting to tell her the good news and I couldn't hold it in any longer. I lifted my head up and beamed at her, "I made first string!"

"OH YAY!!" Alice tackled me, pinning me to the ground as she hugged me. Then she grabbed a pillow off Rosalie's bed and hit me with it playfully.

"Ow!"

"That was for making me think you didn't make it!" She laughed as she got off of me.

Emmett pulled me into a big-bear hug, "Congrats Bells!"

"Um," I gasped for air, "I just endured 3 hours of hardcore tryouts and then ran 2 miles… I might not be in the best smelling conditions right now, Emmett."

He promptly let go, "Good point," he smirked.

They all congratulated me before I headed to mine and Alice's room to shower and change. I was going to put on actual clothes after my shower, but I threw on a simple sweat suit, preferring comfort over style in my current state of exhaustion. I towel dried my hair and flopped down on my bed, needing rest.

I didn't hear the door open but suddenly a very soft and silky voice spoke my name, "Bella…? Are you awake?"

"Yep," I responded, not needing to open my eyes to see who it was. Who else would have such a perfect voice? "What's up, Edward?"

"I just wanted to say congratulations," I opened my eyes to see him smiling at me. I smiled back.

"Thank you." I responded.

He hesitated for a moment, "Bella, I've been thinking about this a lot,"

"About what?"

He took a deep breath, "Now, please consider this before you say no." I sat up in bed, curious as to what he was going to ask me, "I think we should go on a date."

My heart sped up and I felt the blood rush to my face. _Did he really just ask me that?_ "Um… a date?" I repeated, just make sure I heard him correctly.

He grinned a crooked grin so beautiful that it left me breathless, "Yes. Tonight? I can pick you up at 7."

I was gawking at him in disbelief, "Wait… what?"

He laughed at me, "You. Me. Tonight. Are you in?" He dumbed it down for me.

"You want to go on a date with me?"

He looked at me as though I was severely mentally disabled, "Obviously, since I asked you."

Wow. I was shocked and yet excited, "Yes," I said after I found my voice.

He smiled crookedly at me; he looked so angelic and beautiful that it took my breath away. After a full minute of staring at him, he chuckled, "I thought you said I didn't dazzle you?"

I shut my eyes and shook my head, clearing it, "You don't, I'm just tired," but I'm sure he knew it was a lie since all the blood rushed into my face.

"Right," he said skeptically, "So anyway, tonight at 7 then? I'll pick you up."

"Sounds good," He smiled at me and I smiled back, elated for some reason.

--

* * *

**They're dating! Finally, right? **


	17. The Date

It was still early so I decided to take a short nap after my shower. I spent a long time in the warm water, washing my hair with my favorite strawberry shampoo. I let the water pressure massage my back. I towel dried my hair, threw on some sweats, set my alarm for 6 PM and took a nap. 

When my alarm went off, I stretched and got up, excited for my date with Edward. I was really nervous about it and still a bit afraid of becoming just another one of his girls. I couldn't help but fall a little for Edward but how many other girls had said the same thing? I didn't believe in true love, but could I really let my guard down long enough to have a little fun?

As I pondered that last thought I noticed a familiar parchment envelope sitting on my desk._Another letter!_ As I rushed over to pick it up I looked over at my door. It was unlocked so anyone could've just come in and put it there.

It had been a while since they'd last contacted me, I was beginning to think they had decided not to associate with me anymore. I noticed that the envelope felt heavier this time. I opened in and pulled out the letter.

_Dear Isabella,_

_We have seen that you have decided to follow our path to unfold a mystery. We applaud your courage and will gladly aid you in discovering the truth- or, at least, as much of the truth as we can presently give. Therefore the time has come for us to meet at last._

_As we have mentioned before, our anonymity is of great importance. In this envelope you will find a blindfold which you are required to wear once you reach a further destination._

_On the following Saturday, promptly at five thirty in the afternoon, your presence is requested in the back of the Meyer Cathedral building, on the south entrance. You must be securely blindfolded. You will then be escorted into a vehicle which will take you to your final destination._

_Come alone and tell no one of where you are headed or what you will be doing. _

_We will see you soon,_

_-Ť£-_

I read the letter over a few times, as I had the last two I had received from them. Then I looked into the parchment envelope again. I pulled out a long midnight blue silk blindfold.

I nervously thought over what I would do next Saturday. They certainly were very cryptic. What was it that they had planned for me? Where were they going to take me? What was going to happen to me? I had exactly one week to try not to over think the lack of details involved in what I had already agreed to. I knew that I could back out. I had the option of simply not showing up. But I had already made up my mind about it. I was willing to do pretty much anything for information on my family. These people knew something and I would jump through any hoop to find out what that was.

I put the letter away, took a deep breath and began to get ready for my date with Edward.

--

* * *

By the time I heard the knock on the door, I was beyond ready to go. My heart was pounding and I couldn't understand why I was so nervous. It was only Edward, the guy who had become one of my best friends here.

Alice had come into the room while I was getting ready, offering to help me. We had decided on simple black corduroy pants with my black close-toed pumps and an ivory turtleneck. Simple yet elegant. Alice put my hair in a stylish half ponytail and did my make up. She even lent me some very pretty diamond stud earrings that were very pretty and sparkly. She also gave me a matching bracelet and forbid me from wearing my everyday peacoat out. Instead she called Rosalie who came over with a very pretty black and white coat which looked much to expensive. I protested but neither of them were having it. **(Picture of the coat will be in my profile shortly)**

I was relieved when I heard Edward's knock on the door. He was saving me from further make-over torture from Alice and Rosalie.

I opened the door and smiled when I saw him, "Hi,"

His beautiful face lit up as he say me, "Hello," his hands were behind his back. When he brought them out for me to see, he held out a single perfect white rose."This is for you." He handed me the exquisite rose.

I beamed at him, "Thank you." I said, taking it from him and blushing.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

I nodded, "Yep, just let me put on my coat," I grabbed the designer coat Rosalie held out to me and my purse. Alice took the rose from me and put it in a small pink vase she had and placed it on my bed side table. I smiled thankfully at her and she grinned back happily. "Let's go."

Edward held out his arm, allowing me to put my hand through it. I did so and we left. When we got downstairs, his car was stopped right in front of the building. It was a shiny silver Volvo. I noticed a few girls staring at us as he opened the door for me, but I didn't pay attention to them. He went around to the driver's side and got in.

We talked about random things as he drove out of the private city-like Campus and into the adorable town. He had me laughing at some of the more insane things he and Emmett had done while they were growing up. We soon arrived at a very nice looking restaurant. I went to get out of the car but he stopped me.

"Whoa, whoa, what do you think you're doing?" He asked me, looking at me like I was insane.

"Um… getting out of the car?"

He rolled his eyes mockingly, "Don't move." He got out, walked to my side and opened the door for me, "I told you I was a gentleman," he grinned at me. I shook my head and laughed.

I had my arm looped through his as he led me inside. "Cullen reservation for two," he told the hostess as soon as she addressed us.

She stared at the beauty that was Edward, gawking for a minute, before regaining her composure. "Right this way, please," she said to us. As she led us into a very nice looking booth, I noticed how she kept glancing at him every so often, obviously infatuated. She peeked at me a few times, too, as though wondering what miracle I'd performed in order to get a guy like him. It made me incredibly uncomfortable. Once we were seated and over menus were in front of us, she spoke again, "Your server will be with you momentarily." She excused herself and left.

We both shrugged out of our jackets. "You look amazing tonight," he said to me with an intense look in his eyes, sounding so abundantly sincere.

I felt myself blush, "Thank you." I looked over to see that he was wearing a very dark green shirt, it was almost black but the hint of green brought out his spectacular eyes, "You look very handsome," I blushed again._How come when I say things it just sounds silly_, I thought to myself.

He smiled his devastatingly gorgeous crooked smile, "Thank you."

I felt butterflies in my stomach and I looked down at my menu, mostly just to have something to do. I can't explain why I was so nervous. I shouldn't be because I'd been hanging out with Edward since I started at Meyer University. _But I've never been out with him like this_, I admitted to myself.

Soon the waiter showed up. He looked to be about 25 with long red hair pulled back in a ponytail and kind eyes, "Hello. I'm David and it would be my pleasure to serve you guys tonight. Can I start you guys off with something to drink?" He asked.

Edward looked up at me, gesturing for me to go first, "Coke is fine with me."

"Same for me," Edward said.

David nodded and promptly left to get the drinks.

"So," I began, I was nervous to ask the question that had been on my mind since he asked me out, "What made you decide to ask me out?"

Edward hesitated for a moment, smiling, his eyes twinkling, "I've actually been wanting to for a while. I was thinking about it since we first met actually,"

This answer didn't please me. In fact it reminded me of the impression I had of him when we first met. He jumped around from girl to girl. Was it possible that he thought I would be the next one of these mindless girls?

When I didn't answer, he seemed a little unnerved, "Of course, I soon realized you weren't like just any other girl. And you seemed to _hate _me." He shuddered at the memory.

I laughed quietly, "I didn't hate you, but I hated the way you were with girls." I admitted.

Before I could say anymore, David came back with our drinks, "Are you guys ready to order?" he asked us.

"Bella?" Edward waited for me to state whether or not I was ready.

I quickly glanced at the menu, "I'll have the shrimp alfredo." Our waiter jotted that down and turned to Edward who ordered chicken primavera. He then took our menus and left. I looked down at the table, thinking nervously.

Edward noticed something lingering in my silence, "Bella, please tell me what you're thinking," his eyes were pleading.

"I'm just a bit surprised that you asked me out," I admitted, "Don't get me wrong, I'm very glad that you did," I blushed at that, "but… I don't know…"

He smiled captively, but his eyes looked slightly sad, "You still don't trust me," he finished for me.

"It's not just you," I answered, "I don't trust me… not to fall for you that is." Again, I blushed furiously. That was definitely letting out too much information.

"Would that really be the worst thing?" He asked me very seriously.

I grinned, "You know how much of a cynic I am." I said to him. He grinned back at me. "I'm afraid of getting hurt," I admitted to him, looking down at the table. I didn't think my face could get any redder.

He put his elbow on the table and put his hand under his chin, thinking quietly for a minute or two, "I don't blame you for being cautious," he said at last, "I've given you the worst impression of me, you would be a fool to proceed lightly." His eyes were cheerless. But then he looked up at me with a very sincere expression, "But Bella, I've never felt like this about anyone before. I didn't even realize that one _could_ feel like this." He looked incredulous, "What each of my siblings has with the Hales, what my parents have… I had never encountered that myself. I'd always just been the object of attraction for a lot of people for as long as I can remember. I was always just something they wanted, like a trophy or something. I never felt anything for them, never even had a proper conversation. I've never felt an ounce…" he paused, to look earnestly into my eyes, "of how comfortable I feel when I'm around you with anyone except my family."

I took in his words with awe. It must be very hard for him to admit so much, and for doing so I admired him. To be honest, I understood how he felt. It had always felt great being around him. He was one of my best friends and my white knight when I needed him to be. I reached my hand out to him and he closed his over mine, "I know how you feel." We looked into each other's eyes for a few minutes, taking in the adoration and sincerity in each of us.

"So, Bella," he looked at me, his eyes penetrating, "This is going to sound really cheesy, I'm sure, but just go with me on this." He hesitated. I could tell that whatever he was about to say was extremely difficult for him, "Would you… maybe… consider dating me?"

I smiled, "You want us to be exclusive?"

He smiled crookedly again, taking my breath away, "Yes. Would that be OK? I've never had a real girlfriend before and I'm not sure what it entails, however I've never wanted to try it so badly." He pauses again looking so sincere, "I've never wanted to be with someone the way I want to be with you."

I thought about that for a second. "I've never had a boyfriend either,"

"Never?" He looked amazed.

"Nope."

He looked genuinely surprised, "How is that possible?"

I shrugged, "Why is that such a shock?"

He raised his eyebrows at me like I'd just asked the most obvious question in the world, "Well, you're amazing." I blushed furiously once again, "I'm serious, Bella. You're funny and smart, not to mention beautiful and caring. I've never met anyone like you. I'm sure I'm not the first person to see these things in you."

My heart fluttered at his words. No one had ever said anything like that to me, "Well, I think you might very well be the first then," I joked.

"I doubt that is the case here," he said, "I think you just keep people at a distance."

"True," I said, "Until I came here I never had really close friends. I mean, I had_some_ friends, but never anyone I opened up to."

"No one?" He looked interested.

I shook my head, "Only my mother. And after she died, I didn't really get close to people. Until I met Alice." I chuckled, "But then again, it's hard not to automatically love and trust Alice."

He laughed, "Yea, she has that affect on a lot of people."

"Then I met you." We both were silent for a minute, until, finally, I continued, "And despite my thoughts otherwise, I couldn't help but trust you. I never let my guard down that much… you've been amazing… and no matter how much I tried not to have feelings for you, I couldn't help it. I've been falling for you little by little since we first met." I looked away from him as I let my heart out, breaking through the carefully placed armor I had spent many years constructing. Finally, I had broken through the unbreakable barrier… for Edward.

His hand was still cupping mine. As I finished speaking, it tightened. His other hand came up to my face, placing a finger gently under my chin lifting my eyes to meet his. I couldn't hold anything back from him any longer, I'd let the walls around my heart crumble before him. It was all written in my eyes which he looked into devotedly. No matter how afraid I was at being so vulnerable, I could see in his eyes that he felt the same way. He too was finally letting his guard down, putting himself out there.

"What can I do?" He asked me in a very soft whisper, "How can I prove to you how much I like you, Bella? How can I prove that you can trust me?" We were leaning toward each other now, our faces only several inches apart.

"Don't hurt me," I answered back in a whisper.

Our gaze was still uninterrupted, "Never," he vowed. We continued to look only in one another's eyes for a while, silently. Finding comfort, love, happiness and security there. His eyes were my favorite place to be lost in… I was safe there.

I was home there.

All too soon we heard someone clear their throat somewhat loudly. We turned our heads and saw that our waiter was staring at us with an uncomfortable expression on his face, "Um… your food is ready."

Edward and I leaned back into our seats as he put our plates in front of us. After making sure we had everything we needed, he left. We unrolled our silverware and dug in.

Our conversation became lighter as we ate. We joked and laughed a lot.

"Hey look," He said pointing to something behind me.

"What?" I turned around to look. I didn't see anything. I turned back around, about to ask him what he saw but I caught him bringing his fork back away from my plate with a little bit of pasta on hit. He popped it into his mouth, laughing. "Hey!" I laughed.

He threw his head back and laughed deeply. "I can't believe you fell for that. It's the oldest trick in the book!"

I joined in his laughter and shook my head, "Honestly, I can't believe I fell for that either."

We soon finished eating. David, our waiter, came back to our table and asked if we wanted dessert.

Edward looked at me, questioningly, "No way," I said, "I'm stuffed."

"No thank you," Edward said to the waiter, "But maybe some water?"

"No problem," David nodded and left.

Edward stood up and reached his hand out to me, "Come on."

I took his hand, but looked at him questioningly.

"Leave your stuff here," He helped me up and led me to the middle of the restaurant where there was an empty dance floor and a band playing very soft, sweet music. Once we were in the center of the dance floor, he faced me, placing one hand on my waist. "May I have this dance?"

I smiled brilliantly up at him, "Of course," I said to him.

He held my one hand and kept the other one around my waist, leading me around the dance floor, in a slow, sweet dance. We didn't look away from one another's eyes through the entire dance. Soon the song changed into a slower one. I instantly recognized it as an instrumental version of Moon River. Our dance changed as we started swaying from side to side, Edward still expertly leading me, except now he moved both of his hands around my waist as I put both my arms around his neck.

"Bella," he said my name softly as our faces got closer. In my heels I was tall enough for him to lean his head down and rest his forehead comfortably on mine. "I've never been so happy just dancing with someone before."

I smiled, "I know exactly how you feel."

He leaned closer and softly put his lips on mine. I kissed him back gently, tightening my arms around him and slowly pulling myself closer. His arms tightened around my waist as he pulled me closer also. Our lips moved with each others, our kiss was soft and loving. He placed soft, lingering kisses on my cheeks, my skin burning from his touch. I felt his nose graze the side of my face and my ear as his lips moved under my jaw.

Too soon for me, he pulled away, "Are you ready to leave?" He whispered softly.

I nodded, "Mmm hmm," was all I could say.

"OK then," he moved his one hand under my chin and kissed me softly again, letting the kiss go on sweetly, "Let's go."

We walked back to our table to get our things. Edward took the check and placed a few large bills in the little black folder. He then helped me put on my coat, put his own on and led me out of the restaurant with my arm in his.

--

* * *

We were talking about nothing in particular on the entire drive back to campus, joking the entire way. When we finally arrived at the door of my dormitory, I hesitated. 

"Well, I suppose this is where we say goodnight," Edward said to me, smiling.

I nodded, "I guess so…" I didn't want to say goodnight to him yet, but I didn't want him to think I was easy.

He pushed me back against the wall and kissed me deeply. I responded immediately, tangling my fingers in his hair and pulling myself closer to him. He lips parted mine and moved sweetly against them.

Once again, all too soon, he pulled away. "Goodnight Bella," he whispered to me gently, intoxicating me with his sweet breath.

"Goodnight," I whispered to him. I opened my door and stood there for a second.

He leaned in to kiss me one more time, smiling, "I promise I'll see you tomorrow."

"OK," I said, kissing him back. OK, if I didn't pull away now I never would. "Bye," I said, pulling back.

He grinned my favorite crooked grin of his, "Sweet dreams." Then he turned around and headed toward his room.

--

* * *


	18. The Last Meal of Chef Emmett

**Enjoy :)**

**--**

* * *

Alice was in my room waiting for me to get back when I finally closed the door.

"Tell me everything!" she ordered with a huge grin on her face.

I beamed back at her happily, taking off my coat and shoes and joining her on her bed. "It was _incredible_!!" I began at the beginning detailing my night with Edward. I didn't leave out anything. We both sat cross-legged on her bed as I spoke. Finally, I came to our talk, about us dating exclusively and how I'd never let go like that before.

"I don't know, Alice, it just felt _right_. You know what I mean?" I didn't know if I was making any sense.

I looked up at her face and saw that she was beaming at me, "I know _exactly_ what you mean." I smiled back at her. It felt good to have someone to talk to about all of this. It was good to have a best friend. "Bella, I know that Edward has been out with a lot of girls, but I've never seen him around anyone the way he is around you. And I've known him forever."

"Really?" I asked, my insecurity getting the better of me, "Alice, I've never been this vulnerable before. But I trust him. Even after everything I know about his history with girls…" I paused, voicing my deep concerns for the first time out loud, "Am I right to trust him?"

Alice hugged me tightly, offering her unwavering support, "Yes. He really _really_ likes you a lot, Bella. More than he's ever liked anyone before. Trust me, he's just as vulnerable as you are now."

I felt comforted. After an hour of gabbing about my date and when I thought we'd be going out again, I got up, changed into my pajamas and went to bed. That night I dreamt about my perfect new boyfriend.

--

* * *

The next few days went by in a blur. I don't think I've ever been so sublimely happy. Edward and I met up almost everyday for lunch and then usually dinner was at the dining hall again with all of our friends. Our workload was tough, and soccer practices had started, making things just a bit more difficult, but I quickly got used to my new routine. The good thing about keeping busy and having a new boyfriend was that your mind was always occupied either with work or thoughts of his lips so it left me very little time to worry about my mysterious little_rendezvous_ on Saturday.

It was Friday and I had soccer practice that morning at 6 AM, after which I showered and went to breakfast with my friends as usual.

"I don't know how you do it," Alice said so me as we were leaving our room, "Getting up so early three times a week?"

I shrugged, "You get used to it," I told her, shutting our door behind us as we made our way to Rosalie's room before heading downstairs where the boys were surely waiting for us.

As soon as we stepped off the elevator, I saw Emmett and Edward talking about something, they both turned as soon as they heard us coming. I smiled brilliantly as my eyes fell upon Edward. His crooked smile lit up the room as he came to hug me.

"Good morning," He murmured happily into my ear.

I squealed in delight, "Good morning to you too." I kissed his cheek sweetly. Honestly, if someone who had known me my whole life were to see me now, they would think I was a different person. I'm usually a cynic when it comes to relationships. But being with Edward is surreal… I never thought it was possible to feel this _good_.

We made our way down to the dining hall, meeting Jasper on the way there. Always the sweet boyfriend, Jasper picked up his tiny girlfriend and gave her a piggy-back ride all the way down to the dining hall.

Once we were all seated with our trays, I noticed a very annoyed group of girls staring at our table. "Uh oh," Emmett said, taking notice of our onlookers, "looks like all of Edward's ex girls have formed a club…"

Edward shot him a dirty look, "Only two of them are girls I've kissed," but he shot me an apologetic look as he put an arm around me, "I don't know the rest of them."

Rosalie scowled, "Well they certainly seem to know you," she told him as she glared at the girls staring at us. They took one look at her threatening expression and turned away quickly, taking their trays with them and leaving the dining hall.

I laughed suddenly at seeing them leave, "Jeez, Rose, you sure know how to clear a room." Everyone else laughed at that. Rosalie shrugged but looked pleased with herself as she laughed along.

"So are you girls planning on making us dinner again any time soon?" Emmett asked as he bit into a piece of sausage.

Rosalie rolled her eyes at him, "after the way you thanked us the last time, I'm thinking no."

"It was a harmless little turkey!" Emmett whined.

"Little?!" I exclaimed, remembering the enormous ugly bird on thanksgiving, "I'm sorry Emmett, but that _thing_ was in no way little."

"Yes, and there are peck marks on my pool table that will negate the idea of it being 'harmless' as you say." Jasper pointed out.

"OK, so what? One little incident means no more dinners?" asked Emmett, "How is that fair?"

I shrugged, "I might be convinced to make dinner again," I liked cooking, "_IF_ you can promise me no live animals."

Emmett considered that for a minute.

Before he could answer Alice cut in, "And no pranks of any kind."

Emmett had a pained expression on his face, "Now that's asking a bit much, don't you think?"

"No," Rosalie answered him. "But, anyway, isn't it _your_ turn to make _us_ dinner? We cooked last time. It's the boy's turn."

"Hey, I helped!" Edward cut in.

"Me too," said Jasper.

We all looked at Emmett. He looked around at all of us, dumbfounded. "Wait a second…" I had to bite my lips to keep from laughing as a look of nervous comprehension settled on his face, "Are you telling me that you want _me_ to cook for _you_… by myself?!"

Rosalie kissed his cheek happily, "I don't like anything with cilantro, OK?"

Edward was the first to laugh out loud, followed almost immediately by the rest of us.

"Wait, no!" Emmett looked annoyed, "First of all, I can't cook! That'd be more of a punishment for you all than for me." He pointed out.

"That's a good point," Edward said, "I seem to remember a nauseating roast you made in 8th grade."

"Ugh!" Alice groaned, "I'd almost forgotten about that!" She rubbed her stomach at the memory and pushed the rest of her plate of breakfast away.

Emmett chuckled as his siblings told the story. "It was a snow day, so there was no school. And Emmett decided that he would make dinner that night." Alice said, shaking her head at the horrid memory, "So _his highness_ over there forbade anyone from coming into the kitchen while he was working." She rolled her eyes.

"I'm afraid to ask what happened next," I said with a smile.

"Well, I made a roast," Emmett continued proudly with Alice's story, "It wasn't so terrible…"

"Oh no?" Alice snapped at him before turning to the rest of us, "We are called to the dinner table, and it was set perfectly. We all sat around and everything _looked_ harmless enough… that was until our dad cut into the huge piece of beef…" She closed her eyes tightly as though the memory pained her. "It was… soggy… and majorly undercooked."

"I didn't want to burn it… then the gummy worms inside would have gotten sticky."

"You put _gummy worms_ in meatloaf?!" Rosalie looked at him with wide eyes.

Emmett grinned, "Yea, I called it 'Sick Beef'… get it… Sick Beef?!…" He paused for comedic effect, "it was a cow… _infested_ with worms!" He laughed boomingly.

Tears were coming out of my eyes from laughing so hard.

"It was a delicious dinner and a joke all in one!" Emmett laughed.

"Delicious?!" Edward cut in, "Are you kidding? That was the most disgusting thing ever!"

Rosalie and I looked at him, appalled, "Why did you even try it?"

Alice looked like she was going to puke at the mear memory, "Our parents made us… some crap about hurting his feelings if we didn't at least try a little bit."

"And then there was the chicken parmigiana night," Edward said with a laugh.

"Hey!" Emmett argued, "In my defense, the cookbook said that sometimes people use a breakfast cereal mixture to make it crunchier, it wasn't _supposed_ to be terrible."

Edward rolled his eyes, "Yea, they use a mixture of crushed cornflakes and bread crumbs, not oatmeal and fruit loops."

Alice shuddered at the memory, "We all sat around the dinner table staring at these pieces of chicken breast covered with multi-colored cereal pieces and marinara sauce on our plates…"

"Thankfully, our parents didn't make us try _that_ one." Edward said as I laughed.

Jasper, Rosalie and I cracked up while the Cullen siblings scowled at the memory.

"OK, Emmett," Rosalie told him, "We'll think of another way you can make it up to us."

"Yea," I started to beg him, "Please, we'll do anything… just don't cook us dinner!"

--

* * *

**  
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	19. First Encounter

**OK, here it is, the one you've been waiting for!**

**I have to thank all of you who reviewed, you guys are amazing. Each and every one made me work ten times harder on this story, trying to perfect it. I wouldn't want to let you guys down, you are all awesome!**

**Thanks so much, I wish you all a very happy thanksgiving.**

**One more thing, someone asked this question in a review and I wanted to address it in case anyone else was wondering the same thing._  
_**

**_Why does Bella want to connect with her family so badly?_**

**- Her mother died when she was 8 years old and she was her best friend. She feels like if she can connect with her family then maybe she can hold on to another part of her mother she never knew. If you know what its like to lose someone close to you then you know what its like to want so desperately to find and cling to parts of them still lingering somewhere. It brings them back to them somehow, even if only briefly. Sound stupid? Maybe it is. Who knows.**

**Her mother being her best friend also explains why she doesn't usually get close to people… she is afraid of getting close and then losing them. That's why it was such a stretch for her to open up to the Cullens and Hales and, of course, more significantly to Edward.**

**Hope that clears things up, happy reading! **

* * *

Five o'clock on Saturday came much too soon for my liking. I was alone in my room and ready to go. I had reread the letter for the millionth time and decided it would take me no more than fifteen minutes to get to where they wanted to meet me. I might as well get there early though; maybe catch a glimpse of who it was that was taking me away. 

I had packed necessities for the unknowns; cell phone, wallet, cash, pen, paper, the letter, the blindfold, socks, and whatever else I thought might come in handy. I didn't know what to be prepared for, so I just threw in pretty much anything into a small messenger bag. Finally, I couldn't delay my time anymore, so I threw on sneakers, my coat and my messenger bag and headed out the door. I was beyond nervous at this point. Everyone had left me early in the day; Edward, Emmett and Jasper went hiking somewhere and they wouldn't be back for a while, maybe tomorrow or something, I had been worrying about what I was about to do too much to really pay attention when Edward told me. Alice was in a computer lab somewhere working on a project and Rosalie had school work to get done also, so I'd had no one to distract me all day. I had sat in my room attempting to do school work but failing miserably.

I reached the south entrance of the old stone Cathedral building shortly. I had never been there before and it was deserted, which didn't help my nerves. There was a small stone path leading up to the solitary door amids the ancient walls of the building. I went to the door, looked around to see if there was indeed anyone around and I had simply missed it. Of course there wasn't.

Feeling ridiculous, I pulled the blindfold out of my bag and tied it securely around my eyes. Then I waited.

The minutes ticked by, and still no one. I was blindfolded so I couldn't really look at my watch and see how long it had been since I'd started waiting. The longer I waited, the more nervous I got.

My heart was racing when I suddenly heard someone approaching. I gasped and jumped slightly as they came right next to me and took my elbow. The hand felt strong and I could feel the person close to me. Whoever it was was tall, or at least taller than me. They were breathing calmly, I noticed as they began leading me somewhere, holding on to my elbow and directing me.

"So, who are you?" I asked them, trying to steady my voice so it wouldn't give away my anxiety.

No answer.

"Where are we going?"

Still no answer.

Suddenly I tripped on something. The person steadied me, politely moving in front of my blind form and taking both of my hands, leading me gently.

We came to a stop. The person let go of my elbow and I heard a car door open. I felt them grab my elbow again, and gently lead me into a vehicle. I stumbled a little, the car was higher off the ground than normal, making me think it was a larger vehicle of some sort. Maybe an SUV or a van. Still blind, I made my way inside, once in I heard the door close. Soon the door on the other side opened, and someone got in next to me. I heard the low deep rumble of the automobile starting and felt us begin to move. I studied my surroundings with my fingers. The seats were soft and cold, I instantly recognized the smooth leather material. It had that smell that newer cars always have, like plastic and luxury mixed in one. Not knowing who was driving or how far we were going, I thought it would be good sense to put on a seat belt. I moved my hands trying to find one. When I finally got it on, I decided to try to talk to whoever was with me once again.

"May I take off the blindfold?" I asked.

No answer. This was ridiculous. Maybe they just couldn't speak. I tried a different approach. "OK, how about if I ask some 'yes' or 'no' questions. Then maybe you can cough or tap once for 'yes' and twice for 'no'?"

I waited. Soon after I heard one knock on something hard. The window probably.

I smiled.

"OK, may I take off the blindfold?" I asked this mystery person.

_Knock, knock._

"Am I going to be wearing it the entire time?"

_Knock, knock_

I was happy about that answer, "Can I know where we're going?"

_Knock, knock._

I was starting to panic slightly. I was in a car, blindfolded with a stranger or maybe two, because someone was definitely driving. "Am I safe?" I asked.

_Knock_.

I felt a little better after that, but still apprehensive. There were so many questions in my mind, but not many were yes and no. We kept driving for a while, I felt the car turn a few times. Finally after what seemed like forever, but was probably more like half an hour, the car stopped. I heard the person next to me get out. I unbuckled my seat belt and waited until my side door opened. I felt a hand lead me out by the elbow once again.

We walked outside for a few moments, and then stopped. It is truly amazing all the details you notice when you're blinded. I heard the opening of a door; it was a much thicker door judging by the deep sound it made. The person led me inside. The floor beneath us was hard and made our steps echo, I noticed. I was once again being led into another place, then up some stairs (not easy in a blindfold by the way. Whoever was with me had to practically carry me up those) then down another way, and then we stopped. I heard another door open. I was led into there also.

I felt someone else in this room. Maybe two other people judging by their shuffles on the ground. I felt the person that was with me leave the room. My heart began beating faster. _What did I get myself into?_, I thought to myself. Soon one of the people in the room came over behind me and I felt them untying my blindfold.

I gasped in fright as soon as I saw my surroundings.

I was in a small dark room with only a chair and a little table with a lantern. There were two people in front of me in long dark cloaks with the hoods pulled all the way up so I couldn't see their faces.

I was terrified. They both looked like twin grim reapers.

The one in front of me pointed a long stretched finger to another door to the side. Trembling from head to toe, I walked into the door and opened it.

I don't know what I was expecting to find in this other chamber; a room of medieval torture devices, perhaps, judging from the looks of the others in my presence. Or, I don't know… nothing good, that was for sure.

What I saw was SO not what I expected.

Inside was a beautiful, brightly lit room. The walls were a deep teal with crisp white molding everywhere. There was a large white vanity with lighted mirrors against one of the walls. On the wall adjacent to the vanity there was a large 3-way mirror. The room was gorgeous and inviting. Hanging on the wall next to the mirror was a beautiful red ball gown and an elaborate sequined face mask.

I felt the door close behind me, leaving me alone in this stunning dressing room. I was baffled again, but only for a few minutes because then I noticed another parchment envelope addressed to _Isabella Hayden_.

I opened it and pulled out a piece of parchment with instructions.

_Dear Isabella,_

_You have been cordially invited to attend one of our events. This particular one is a masked ball and you will need to be dressed accordingly. In this room you will find the necessities you need to make yourself presentable. _

_When you are done getting ready, knock on the door leading back to the small room three times. Someone will come and fetch you._

_Your clothes and other things can be left in here. You will not be needing them._

_Looking forward to seeing you soon,_

_-Ť£-_

I put the letter back down on the vanity. I opened some of the drawers and found that in each one was something different; dozens of make-up products, hair products, ornate hair clips and such. There was even a drawer with some very pretty costume jewelry, and one with different perfumes. I had fun going through all the different things, each little drawer held a new surprise.

Excitedly, I quickly changed into the red dress. It was gorgeous. It was strapless with an embroidered top and draping on the bottom. I felt like Cinderella.**(Picture of dress in my profile)** I put some make up on but not much, since I'm not too good at that. If only Alice were hear, she'd know exactly what to do. It took me a bit of time to figure out how to put my hair up in an appropriate bun, but I did it, finally. Then there were four different pairs of shoes lined up next to the vanity. All very similar but each in a different size. I picked the ones that fit best, folded up my things into a neat pile and put everything else I used away. I grabbed the beautiful sequined mask and put in on, then went back to the door and knocked three times.

The door opened and in came a very tall man dressed in a black coat and tails tuxedo. His face was hidden behind an ornate mask. He silently bid me to follow him. We walked down a dark hallway, down some stairs and into an entrance room. It was made of stone and had really high ceilings. From the echoing of our steps, I deducted that we were back in the same room as we were when I first arrived. There were two large sets of wooden doors on either side of the room.

The man with me opened the sets of doors to our left. I gasped when I saw what was before me. There were a few dozen people in elegant ball gowns or tuxedos, all wearing masks and chatting animatedly in a very beautiful and brightly lit ball room. Their faces were hidden so I didn't recognize anyone and there was classical music playing from somewhere I didn't see. I was too busy taking in the beautiful atmosphere to pay much attention to anything else.

When the doors opened, everyone looked toward us. We made our way down the center of the grand ballroom. I was completely bewildered. What was going on? As we walked down toward the other end of the room, the finely dressed people parted to make way for us, bowing their heads in polite greeting as we passed.

At the other end of the room, there were three other people standing waiting for us. Two guys and one girl, dressed in a gorgeous formal wear as was everyone else. The men bowed to me and the girl did a small curtsy. They looked at me waiting. After realizing what they were waiting for I curtsied back, bowing my head slightly and feeling a bit stupid. They turned around and led me to the side of the ballroom as the rest of the room resumed their activities. At the side there was a smaller door, it led to an ornate little room with a large round wooden table and a few chairs.

One of the men held out a chair for me to sit in. I sat and the rest of the people around me sat down, except for one, who went over to a small table in a corner, picked up a long rectangular midnight blue box and placed it in front of me.

Once he was seated, I looked around at them, looking for some kind of signal. When they nodded toward me, I opened it. Inside were two things; a thin dark blue scrap book and another parchment envelope. I took the scrapbook out first. Before opening it, I looked around at the people surrounding me, they nodded again and I proceeded.

I felt my heart speed up and my breath catch when I saw what was inside.

On the very first page was a large black and white picture of a young Sabrina Hayden in a ball gown, holding a mask at her side. She was looking away, not realizing someone was photographing her. I recognized the room she was in as the one I had just been in, the ball room. She had a look of surprise and wonder on her lovely face. She looked the way I felt; a little scared, but curious and wondering. As though she didn't know what was going on around her. _She was doing the same thing I'm doing now_, I realized to myself as I ran my fingers lovingly over the photograph, memorizing my grandmother's face once again.

The next few pages contained more photographs of Sabrina. She was doing random activities in each one, a look of concentration and wonder still on her face. These pictures were noting like the ones in the yearbooks. It was like I had never seen her before; real, not posed. She looked so much like me… like Renee. I couldn't hold tears back any longer. They bounced into my eyes, blurring my vision.

One of the last pictures was of Sabrina in a dark cloak, with the hood pulled back, smiling brilliantly. She was with a large group of people who were all smiling at the camera, each wearing the same dark cloaks. Under that photograph was a notation: _Sabrina Hayden, Induction into Twilight League, 1963._

The final pictures in the scrap book were of a young man, not much older than me. In the last photograph he too was in a dark cloak, surrounded a group of people dressed the same way, shaking his hand. His handsome face was smiling happily in the picture. It read; _Matthew Hayden Induction into Twilight League, 1936._

The brimming tears now spilled over as I saw my great-grandfather's face for the first time ever. I couldn't stop a happy smile as I studied his features, seeing Renee in there also, her cheekbones and her eyes. Both of which were passed down to me.

Realizing I wasn't alone, though, I soon looked up to the people around me. They stayed silent, watching me.

Wiping stray tears away from my eyes hastily and turned to the envelope that was still in the box. It was addressed to "Hayden"; no first name. I opened it and found a letter, written in very neat handwriting that I didn't recognize.

_To My Descendant,_

_Welcome to our little family mystery. If you have come this far I am certain that you are very bright and courageous, or perhaps just curious. I'm certain this all seems very bizarre to you. I can imagine that you feel like Alice right now, falling down the rabbit hole._

The familiar tingling in my nose came as a lump in my throat built up, tears falling freely now as I realized that this was a letter written by my grandmother … to me.

_When I was in your position, I found that I was always waiting for the Queen of Hearts to appear suddenly screaming "Off with her head!". As I am writing to you now after having gone through quite the dark and puzzling tunnel, you can surely deduct that my head is indeed still attached._

_Darling descendant of mine, I do not know you (yet, hopefully) but I can understand how you are feeling since I have been in your current position. I know that everything seems hazy and intimidating now and I truly wish I could give you answers to everything you're looking for. And yet, how anticlimactic would it be if I simply divulged all the answers to you now? After all, had someone told Alice everything about wonderland and what to expect, would her discovery have been even half of the thrilling experience it was? _

_It is the unexpected events, the people you meet and the friends you make along the journey that make life worthwhile. Never forget that._

_Now, you have been chosen, my dear, to be a part of something that will inevitable inspire a great transformation within yourself. You have received a glimpse into this world; the mystery, the thrill, the fun, the company and, of course, the adventure. I am elated that yet another member our family had been chosen to join the Twilight League (if you are reading this, then that is the case, although I may never know for sure, but I do hope that this letter finds its way into another pair of Hayden hands)._

_If, however, you are not one for adventure, your journey can end here. You surely know now (or will find out shortly) of our family's involvement in the Twilight League, however the events and inner workings of the League itself shall remain unknown to you if you choose not to proceed._

_Also, I am afraid if you are reading this that your time to decide whether or not to be a part of the society is very limited. That being said, I must warn you that it will __NOT__ be an easy process. But I can tell you that it was one the best things I have ever done. I hope that you are up for the challenge. If not, my loved one, have an amazing experience at this University. It was one of the most rewarding and exciting periods of my life. I hope the same sentiments find you as well._

_Be Safe_

_Be Strong_

_Be Brave!_

_All my love,_

_Sabrina Hayden_

_-- _

The last few lines were blurred to me as my tears flowed freely. As I finished reading the letter, I wiped them away, trying to control the emotions so desperately stopping me from keeping my cool around these people. The girl in the pretty gold ball gown pushed a box of tissues toward me. I smiled at her thankfully and took one, dabbing at my eyes.

"So," spoke a deep male voice. I was so startled that one of them actually spoke that I stiffened for a second. "Any questions?" His voice was muffled behind the mask he wore, but still I didn't recognize it, however I could tell that he was smiling from his tone.

It took me a brief moment to regain my composure, "What is the Twilight League?" I asked.

The girl spoke this time, "We are a discreet organization within the school. I suppose for lack of a better term you may refer to us as a secret society. We certainly don't allow others to be aware of our presence."

Another guy spoke, "Among other things, we exist as a League of close comrades, so to speak, supplying our university experience with adventure and tradition. It's two of our main purposes."

I took in the information, "What are your other main purposes?"

"I'm sorry," spoke yet another person in the room, "but at this time we cannot tell you."

The deep male voice spoke again, "We can't tell you anymore yet, Isabella. But answers will be given to you should you decide to join us."

"Join?" I asked.

"Yes."

I didn't know what to think. Playing for time, I asked another question, "How did you find me? How did you know about me?"

The girl spoke again in a soft, sweet voice, "We know you think that you were chosen because your family members were a part of it, however that is not the case. We _do_ tend to give people who's families have been a part of it an advantage, only because family members are usually similar in their morals. From what we know of your family, Isabella, they were kind, righteous and courageous; three things we put great value into."

"Our members have all shown great moral fiber, that is one of the requirements. There are other things, tests of sorts, to go through before membership is granted." Said the man with the deep voice again.

I didn't answer for a second, taking it all in. This was a secret society. My family was part of a secret society?! The idea brought a nervous smile to my face… how exciting!

Reading my face, one of the members addressed me, "The road to membership won't be easy, Isabella. It will be a challenge and you will find yourself questioning yourself and your values. There will be difficulties and sacrificing of certain things you've grown accustomed to."

I nodded, taking in his warning. What if I didn't pass these tests, though? Would I even be daring enough to try? Would it be safe? What would I have to give up?

"So, think hard before you agree to take this step," said the girl again, "is it something you're willing to do?"

I thought back to all the things Renee had told me about her mother. About her amazing time at this school and her hopes that she would've attended. The hopes that had been passed on to me. They had wanted me to be a part of this. I know that my mother had always wanted the best for me; I know neither she nor my grandmother would deliberately put me in harms way. With this assurance, I could be brave enough to take this step.

I looked at them each with a sudden quiet confidence radiating through me.

"Yes."

--

* * *

**Hey, sorry it took so long for an update. What did you guys think? There is A LOT more planned for this story so please stay tuned. I promise more Bella and Edward moments are to come soon also, of course, I love those moments way too much also. **


	20. Yoga

The next morning I woke up in my room. The events of last night came back to me; the dance, the proposal and the agreement. 

After I had agreed to unknown terms of "pledging" for lack of a better term, I was led back into the ballroom where I silently intertwined with the other faceless members. I dance with a few, not gracefully. No one spoke to me directly but they politely acknowledged me. I suppose they couldn't disclose their identities, in case I didn't make it into the league.

The idea of being in the League excited me. Knowing that my grandmother and great grandfather had been a part of it only made it sweeter. It was exciting! I was given a chance to be a part of a clandestine organization, unaware of what they would have me do, but knowing that I would somehow belong some to something… the thought comforted me. It wasn't until I came to college that I had felt close to anyone. When Renee died, so did the part of me that was able to get close to others. But with Alice and Edward and the rest of my friends, that part of me had come back, bursting with life. And now I had found the Twilight League (or rather, they found me). It felt good to be wanted.

A large black SUV with dark tinted windows had driven me back to my dorm late at night. They had put my other belongings into a black paper bag and it was in the SUV when I'd gotten in.

It was early on Sunday morning and I couldn't sleep any longer. Alice wasn't home; I figured she'd spent the night at Jasper's place. I went over to my wardrobe and opened the large garment bag that I had found in the black paper bag also. I had placed the red ball gown in there last night when I'd gotten home. I didn't know if they would want it returned to them, but I might as well go and get it dry cleaned just in case. I'm sure they'd let me know if they needed it back.

I ran my hand over the beautiful fabric of the dress, remembering my enlightening night. I ran my hand over the red sequined mask attached to it.

But suddenly the door opened and in came a very excited looking Alice. I threw the door to my wardrobe shut, not wanting her to see the dress. This whole process was supposed to be a secret.

She was beaming at me, "Good morning," she said, coming over to give me a hug.

I hugged her back, curiously, "Hey Alice, what's going on?"

She stepped back and looked at me, now trying to hide a smile, "Nothing, just in a good mood today. What's up with you?"

I looked away from her and went to my bed, hiding my face, "Nothing new." I really suck at lying, "how was your night?"

"Fun," she said, not giving out anymore information, "Yours?"

"Good."

She came to my side of the room and picked up the red sequined mask. _Damn_, I thought to myself. It must've flown out of the closet when I shut the door so quickly. "You dropped this," she handed it to me, her expression blank.

"Uh, thanks," I grabbed it from her and threw it in the closet, "So what are your plans for today?"

She sat at her desk and fumbled with her computer, "I don't know, I guess I don't really feel like doing school work." She paused then came alive again, "Hey, there's a yoga class today at the gym! Wanna go?"

"Yoga?" I looked at her skeptically. I was athletic but not very limber.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" She insisted.

"OK, then…" I shrugged. How bad could it be?

--

* * *

I hate Alice!

OK, not really, but I was seriously going to hurt her for putting me through this!

"Alice!" I whispered angrily to her as my legs were painfully twisted into a pretzel, "I thought you said this was a _beginner_ class?!"

She was having a hard time too, but not as bad as I was, "Don't look at me! Rosalie was the one that told _me_ about it." We both glared at her.

Rosalie looked completely calm and serene; her legs folded neatly into a complicated pose, breathing in and out peacefully with her eyes closed.

We had already been in the room with borrowed mats and blocks that the school supplied when the class had started. It began easily enough, so I thought it wouldn't be so bad. Boy was I ever wrong.

We were half an hour into the class and the work out had gotten unbearably difficult. Everyone around me seemed to know what they were doing… except for me.

"OK, everyone," said the flighty yoga instructor, Linda, in an airy voice. "Now let's go onto our backs and bring our legs all the way back. Feel your spine expanding as you breathe…"

_What! A spine can't expand, can it?_ I asked myself as I saw everyone lay back and bring their legs slowly back behind their heads easily… _how are they doing this?!_

Sighing, I tried to copy everyone around me, lifting my legs back. Somehow, I managed to lift myself and bring my legs back behind me, my toes touching the floor. Let me tell you that _that_ is not a very comfortable position to try to breathe in.

Linda spoke again, "I want you all to imagine the flow of air going from your nose and down to your spine, following the curve like a gentle stream flowing freely into the wide ocean…"

I turned my head to look at Alice… "What the hell is she talking about?" I mouthed to her silently. Alice snorted instantly, hiding it in a cough. I was having a lot of trouble breathing in this position.

"No, no, no ladies," Linda said to me and Alice, "Your legs must be straight… here, let me show." To my extreme horror, she came over to me and knelt down behind me, pulling my legs further back.

"Wha-" I began to protest, but my lack of breath cut me off. The idiot seemed to be oblivious to my pain as she stretched me legs back further, holding them down so I couldn't move.

"It's OK, dear," she cooed, "Just breathe thoroughly…" She continued serenely ass though she were doing me a huge favor, "Now feel the air going up through your spine… down to your legs… feel all your pent up energy traveling down your back and out through your toes…"

"Gah-" I tried to protest, as she pushed my legs straight.

"No, no dear," She said, and I could tell she had a tranquil smile on her face, "You don't have to thank me, and it's my pleasure to help you center your chi."

"Chi-" I stuttered out, having a lot of difficulty breathing. God, this stupid woman was going to suffocate me and she wouldn't even know it. She'd probably think I was meditating when I passed out.

"Yes that's right, dear, your chi… Now everyone," She spoke to the entire room who was still on their backs, except for Alice who was sitting up staring at me, fighting hard to contain her giggles, "everyone please take this moment to focus on balancing your chi in this position... Ms. Swan… can you feel your shakras aligning?"

_What the hell is a shakra? Come to think of it, what's a chi?_ I thought hurriedly, not really being able to think straight with all the blood rushing to my head and the lightheadedness from not breathing, _Wasn't a chi one of those clay pots in the shape of animals that you water and in it grows a plant or something? Was I supposed to bring one of those? And what on earth did that have to do with breathing? Oh no, wait, that's a chia pet… but then what's a chi?_

I couldn't deal with not breathing anymore, "Lemmego!" I gasped out quickly.

"What was that dear?" She asked, "You're going to need to annunciate, dear, I can't really understand you."

At that point Alice couldn't hold it in anymore, "I don't think she can breathe."

Linda look around at my face that was deep red by now, "Oh!" She immediately let go of my legs, and I let them flop noisily back onto the mat with a huge grunt. I inhaled loudly, grateful for the air filling my lungs. "Well dear," the stupid dunce spoke again, "You should have said something earlier. Breathing is an important part of this type of exercise." She said to me matter of factly before patting my shoulder, "it's OK though, you'll catch on soon, dear, don't worry."

I stared at her in awe, too furious and mortified to say anything. I turned to Alice, eyes wide and face completely red. She bit her lips to stop herself from laughing and turned toward the front again. _If she calls me 'dear' one more time…_ I thought, groaning silently as I faced the front where the idiot teacher was leading us through cool down routines.

After the lesson was over and we had finished putting away our mats, Rosalie came over to us, smiling. "Wasn't that invigorating?"

I glared at her.

She didn't seem to understand why I looked so miserable. She looked at Alice with a bewildered look as Alice shook with uncontrollable laughter, "What'd I miss?"

--

* * *

**So in my class this morning I dozed off with my elbow on the desk and my head resting on my hand… that is until my hand slipped out from under my chin and my head slammed loudly onto the desk. The entire class turned to stare at me and I was still in too much shock from my less-than-perfect wake up call to even try to play it off. Talk about humiliation.  
**


	21. Edward and Riddles

**Have I mentioned how much I appreciate all the amazing reviews and alerts? Because they're amazing. Thanks again!  
**

* * *

I, of course, hadn't told anyone about my escapade last Saturday. They had instilled in me that 'anonymity was key'. But let me tell you that it is _not_ easy keeping a secret this big, especially now that I have best friends and a boyfriend. Although I hadn't heard anything from the League in over two weeks, when I'd attended the masked ball. 

You'd think that after meeting them, the Twilight League would've given me a way to contact them… or at least instructions as to what I was supposed to do next. But no, they'd simply left me to wonder when and where they were going to be putting these 'tests' into actions.

One morning Alice and I awoke to go to our Art History 102 class, but due to severe snow storm warnings it was canceled. Unable to go back to sleep, we stayed up chatting just the two of us once again.

"So," She asked me, as we were each laying on our beds, "Have you found out anything new about your family?"

Regardless of how casual the question seemed, I froze a little inside. What could I really tell her without breaking my vow of secrecy to the League? "Um, just a few things…" I played for time.

Alice furrowed her eyebrows and looked over at me, "Such as…"

"Well, my grandmother was Summa Cum Laude of her graduating class," I said, remembering what I'd read about her in her yearbook. "And my grandfather was part of the Soccer Team back then also"

"Wow, just like you!" Alice exclaimed, "That's so cool, what else?"

I was quiet, "Not too much else, the yearbooks didn't really give away much about their lives." It wasn't a lie, not really anyway.

"I'm so sorry, Bella," She sounded so sincere; it made my insides fill with hot guilt. I'd never had anyone to confide in before. Now here I was, with a best friend, the first one I'd had since my mother, and I was lying to her.

I quickly changed the subject, not thinking I'd be able to lie to her any longer. "So do you think the snow storms are going to get as bad as they predict?"

"Definitely." She said, "I have a feeling we're going to be stranded here for a while. In fact, we should go stock up on supplies while we still have a chance to." There she was predicting the future again. I, however, had learned not to doubt her, she was very rarely wrong.

I got up out of bed and grabbed my phone, "I'll call Edward and Emmett, you call Rosalie and Jasper to see if they want anything while we're out." I said, already dialing.

We drove my SUV to the market, getting enough food to feed a small country. We'd also gone to the Target store in town to get supplies and, of course, Alice went a little crazy with the shopping. She had insisted on getting extra blankets, fleece pajamas for all of us (and, yes, I do mean _all_ of us), thermals, candy, movies, candles and batteries in case the power went out.

Once again, though, Alice was right. There had been a very heavy snow fall that night and it continued into the next morning. Classes were canceled due to the massive amount of cold white snow on the ground and it didn't look like it would resume any time soon. I was stranded in my room with Alice and Jasper.

Poor Jasper had ventured through the freezing weather to come to our building and be with Alice during this time. Looking out through our window at the bitingly cold wind lashing the snow around violently as it fell, I figured his journey hadn't been an easy one.

"OK, so what do we want for dinner?" I said, checking our fully stocked mini fridge and other food supplies.

"Pizza!" Alice exclaimed from her bed. The heat in our room was turned up but it was still chilly, due to a small draft coming from the window. Alice was cuddle in bed with Jasper, both of whom starting to feel a little sick.

Edward would be down in a few minutes, I was sure, and he'd probably be hungry also. He'd gone upstairs to shower and change before coming back down to hang out with me.

I shook my head at Alice, "We can't keep eating frozen pizza. You're never going to get better if you just eat that."

Sure enough, while I was sifting through our great amount of food supplies, Edward walked in, came up behind me and pulled me into a hug.

I spun around in his arms and beamed at him. It didn't matter how much we'd been hanging out together, if he was gone, even for a few minutes, I missed him. I was so happy to be back in his arms. I got on my tip toes to kiss him, putting my lips gently to his and parting them with my own.

The kiss was soft and sweet, the bliss of reunion flooding both of us, making the moment even better. His hands ran down my back as mine wrapped around his neck, pulling myself closer to him, deepening our kiss…

"Eh-em!" Alice cleared her throat loudly.

I felt my face flush a deep red. Edward looked at his sister, grinning sheepishly. "Sorry," He said to her before kissing my forehead sweetly and loosening his grip on me.

Still lightheaded from the amazing kiss, I turned back to the food and tried to find something quick to whip up. Edward stopped me.

"How about you let me cook?" He smiled at me.

"You can cook?" I looked at him in surprise.

"Of course! I'm not Emmett."

Alice made a little noise, "You're making something for all of us right?" She asked in her sweetest don't-you-want-to-give-me-my-own-way-because-I'm-so-cute voice.

Edward rolled his eyes at his sister, "OK, sure" he said to her, "Any requests?"

Alice thought for a moment of two, "Tomato soup and grilled cheese."

"That's not cooking Alice, that's barely heating things up."

"Edward pleeeeeeaaase!" She whined.

Edward groaned, "Fine."

--

* * *

That night I was lying in bed next to Edward, wide awake. Alice and Jasper were loudly coughing up a storm in the next bed and I couldn't fall asleep. 

I heard Edward groan next to me, "That's enough. Let's go." I guess he couldn't sleep either.

I sat up, "Go where?"

"My room. It'll be a lot quieter." He whispered as he hopped off the bed.

I followed his lead, but not before taking a box of tissues, a bottle of cold medicine and two bottles of water next right on Alice's bedside table. I took a post-it note and wrote her a little message telling her to feel better and that I'd be upstairs with Edward should she need anything.

Edward and I sleepily made our way upstairs and into his empty room which he usually shared with Emmett. It was set up almost exactly like mine and Alice's room, except the color scheme was mainly dark blue and gray with a few football and music posters up. Edward's extensive music collection was neatly organized on his side of the room on a very large CD rack.

"Wow," I said, going over to admire it. It might seem strange but all this time I'd never been up in Edward's room. He usually always came down to mine. The one thing that was very similar to our room was the way the window seat was set up, looking extremely cozy with a few throw pillows and a dark caramel colored blanket thrown over it.

He chuckled, "That's not even half of my music collection. You should see all the CDs I have at home."

"How did you choose which ones to bring?"

He shrugged, "I only brought my favorite CDs." He walked over to one of the two laptops sitting on his desk. The one was dark blue and set up with speakers attached to it, "I copied all my CDs to my music laptop in mp3 form… It's much easier that way."

"Cool," I said, with a yawn.

He smiled and came over to me, kissing me out of the blue. "Ready for bed?"

"Mmm hmm," I mumbled, still dazed from his surprising kiss.

He climbed into his bed and held his arms out open to me, inviting me to join him. My heart fluttered at his sweet gesture and I smiled, happily joining him. Once I was securely cuddled up against him, he pulled to covers over us and wrapped his arms around me. I responded my hugging him close to me, leaning my lips into the side of his face and placing gentle kisses along his jaw, making my way to his ear.

I heard Edward let out a sharp breath followed by a slow whisper, "Bella…"

Smiling to myself, I continued the kisses, taking his earlobe into my mouth lightly and running my hands down his muscled back. Suddenly he gripped my waist and pulled me even closer to him with one hand while the other brought my lips back to his. He kissed me passionately; I responded immediately, kissing him back with an instinctive urgency.

Not knowing what came over me, I pushed him onto his back, rolling with him so that I was on top of him, our lips still locked together. His hands ran down my back, barely stopping at the small of my back. He brought his hands up once more, resting them right under my head, tilting it upward so he had easier access to my neck. He placed intense, lingering kisses along my throat, making me moan with pleasure. My legs split apart and were now on either side of him. His lips were soon moving along my collar bone, moaning my name during the very few times they weren't pressed against my skin.

He moved one hand slowly down my side, over my shoulder, down my rib cage, to my waist, over my hip and to my thigh, gripping it and hiking it up suddenly to his hip. At this point I completely lost control. I could feel my body temperature rising. I was so dizzy from his intoxicating scent and my panting, but it didn't matter. I was lost in him.

I moved my hands under his shirt, feeling his perfectly sculpted torso. My God! He was incredible. He growled softly as I moved on top of him, kissing his neck and making my way down to his chest…

But before I could go any further, Edward lifted me up off him and placed me on the bed, at a distance from him. He had his eyes closed and tried to steady his breathing. I didn't understand why he stopped.

"Edward…?" I was confused, "Don't you want to…?" My face flushed a deep red. I didn't even know what I was asking him. Was I ready for that?

His eyes remained closed, "No."

Oh.

My heart dropped at his answer... humiliation and rejection making their way through me slowly. _Of course he doesn't want me,_ I thought, _How could I have been such an idiot? _To my further mortification, I felt my eyes start to water. I stifled a sob.

Unfortunately he caught that.

"Bella, did I offend you?" Edward asked me, his face contorted into a look of pure shock and confusion.

I didn't answer; instead I made to turn away from him. But he stopped me before I could and pulled me into a secure and reassuring hug, squeezing me tight.

"You silly beautiful oversensitive girl!" He said placing sweet kisses on my forehead. "You know that I want to."

"Do you?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then what's the problem?" I mumbled tearily into his chest.

He hesitated.

His silence did nothing to soothe my distress. "Is it me?"

"No, Bella, of course not." He assured me, "Believe me, I want you. My GOD how I want you." He paused again, resting his chin on the top of my head, "I just… I don't know… I just don't want to rush it… I wouldn't want you to think …"

Once again, he hesitated.

I pulled my face away from his chest, only just far enough to look into his eyes, "What is it?"

His eyes closed and he sighed in defeat, "I wouldn't want you to think that I was using you."

"Oh, Edward," I hugged him tight, "I trust you… more than I've ever trusted anyone before. I _know_ now you won't hurt me."

He looked into my eyes, "I won't Bella, I swear. I'll never hurt you. I just wouldn't want you to ever doubt that… I think it would be best if we took things slow."

I nodded my head. I trusted him with everything I had, but it seems that Edward didn't trust himself yet. If time was what he needed to prove to himself that he has changed, then I would wait for him. "Kay," I said to him, rubbing his back in support, assuring him silently, like a good girlfriend should.

My heart filled as he smiled at me, dazzling me once again with his killer grin. "I don't know what I did to deserve you, Bella Swan."

I kissed him sweetly on the lips and snuggled once again into him. Soon we both fell asleep in each other's arms.

--

* * *

Mmmm…. 

Bliss.

I didn't dare open my eyes, not wanting to move from this heavenly spot I was in. I was warm and cozy, cuddled against Edward, whose arms were wrapped securely around me still.

Against my better judgment, I finally opened my eyes, only to find a pair of beautiful bright green eyes staring back at me intently. The emotion behind them hit me like an electric shock, but I could place it. Could it be love?

Edward smiled at me, "Good morning."

I smiled back at him, "Good morning," I murmured sleepily.

He leaned over to kiss my forehead.

"How long have you been awake?" I asked him.

"Not long. You look really peaceful when you sleep."

"You watched me sleep?" I raised one eyebrow at him.

He nodded. "I didn't want to wake you. Besides, you're so cute, I couldn't look away."

I shook my head, but I couldn't help blushing furiously as my heart fluttered.

"So what would you like to do today?" He asked, pulling me closer and murmuring against my ear.

I chuckled happily as his breath tickled me. "This is pretty perfect actually."

"Hmm…" He rolled me onto my back and brought his lips to my neck, "Sounds good to me."

--

* * *

It was almost noon by the time I'd made my way back to my room to shower and change. The snow outside was still coming down… we were up to at least two full feet of it on the ground. In other words, we were all still stranded in the dormitory. 

Alice and Jasper weren't in bed but I heard the shower running so I figured Alice was in there. I went to my wardrobe to pick out a warm, comfortable and cute outfit to wear for today. But before I reached it, I saw a familiar parchment envelope sitting on my desk.

_How do they keep getting in here?_ I asked myself as I went over to pick it up.

This one was much different than the other. The crisp folded-up parchment paper inside held a poem this time instead of a letter.

It read:

_A long day comes, at end we go_

_Back to a place we do well know._

_But to grant access, we all must pass_

_A small object of little Mass._

_ -_

_For on this quest a catch you'll find_

_And only with this item will it unbind_

_To reveal future details vital to your coming journey of mind._

_- _

_To begin your search, start to the south_

_And take heed clues from word of mouth._

_Up in a room where none enter_

_It is here that you will find her._

_A small little thing which looks quite trivial_

_But to your journey it will be essential_

_- _

_So on you go, so long, take care!_

_But know that the clock is being watched somewhere._

_When it strikes One on morning of the day of rest_

_You have until then to complete this first daring test._

_If exceed, do you, this given time,_

_This critical item will no longer be there to find._

_ -_

_Good Luck, Isabella,_

_-Ť£-_

_- _

What the hell? It wasn't a poem, it was a riddle. And I had to figure out what it meant and where I was supposed to find … whatever it was… before 'the day of rest'.

Oh crap.

I sighed, sat down at my desk and read over the poem one more time, trying to figure out what I was looking for, how I was going to look for it and what I was supposed to do with it. The clues were all in the riddle. I just had to find it.

* * *

**OK, I know its confusing, but can anyone figure out what the riddle is? I'll give you a clue. She has to find something, but can you figure out what it is? It took me a while to get the wording right on the poem, but I assure you, all the clues are there. If you're into riddles, then enjoy! If not, the answers will be revealed in the next chapter :)**


	22. Clues

**I have two things to say:**

**1) 30,000 hits! 30,000 hits!!!! I'm still having trouble believing it!**

**2) I love you guys!! **

**The answers to the riddle are all right here. Enjoy! **

* * *

When Alice finally came out of her long shower, I was still sitting at my desk, trying to figure out the riddle. Here's what I'd gotten so far: 

'_Day of rest' _had to mean on Sunday, at one o'clock in the morning. Today was Thursday so that meant I had three days to figure it out. I vowed to make sure that all was taken care of before Saturday evening… I shuddered at the thought of being at some strange room _'where none enter'_ in the middle of the night by my self...

'_The object of small mass' _I figured had to be a key. They had referred to a '_catch'_ and several other hints which lead me to the same answer.

OK, so I was looking for a key, in a small room which is abandoned. But _where?_! And why had they referred to the key as _'her'_? Unless it wasn't the key that they were referring to at that point. If I figured out who 'she' was, then it was sure to lead me to further answers.

_OK, now for how to get to this room_, I thought to myself as I reread the poem for the zillionth time, silently grateful for my crazy high school English teacher who drilled poems and symbolism into us at the time. Her lessons were definitely paying off now. _'To begin your search start to the south'_. Well that didn't really help me; Mason hall was on the northern part of campus. Everything was comparatively to the south.

Now I was getting frustrated. _Focus Bella!_

'_A long day comes…'_ I began reading again. _'A small object of little Mass'. _The word "Mass" struck me as odd. First of all, why capitalize the M if it was insignificant. I turned to my computer and hooked up to the Internet looking up the word.

_Mass (n): 1. an object of weight and substance_

_ 2. A religious service_

The last answer struck something. I scribbled the words 'Mass – church' on the back of a notebook I'd been using to decipher the clues. The word was the first of two references to religion. _'The day of rest'_ was definitely a Biblical reference to Sunday, making it the second.

_OK, so I have to go to a church?_ I thought to myself. I hadn't been to a church in ages… almost ten years to be exact… since Renee's funeral. Besides, what church? Where was there a … wait a second...?

The Meyer Cathedral building!

I had only been in there once or twice, since part of it was used as one of the school libraries. Immediately I turned back to the computer and looked up some history of the building. I had studied up on the institution before I came here, but all I knew of its history was what was on the brochure. Drumming my fingers impatiently on my desk I waited for the page to load.

_The Meyer University Cathedral Building_

_This excellent form of Gothic architecture was once a fully functional religious Cathedral, one of the first built in the Americas. The building, and others surrounding it was then turned into the prestigious ivy-league Meyer University. The historical landmark is presently used as a library, however, its aesthetic and architectural integrity is still completely intact, having been very well preserved through the decades._

_The school's founder, Stephenie Meyer was outraged by the idea that at the time an education was laughable when in regards to women. Once married to the scholarly and influential Christian Meyer, the pair turned the vast amount of land they owned into a learning institution where both men and women could come to gain an education. This fact was made acceptable to the time period's society by the enforcement of mandatory charm school lessons for female students. The genders were separated for all lessons, the only time they would join was for Sunday Mass in the Cathedral._

_The sheer beauty of the Cathedral itself made it the perfect place for Stephenie Meyer to "just sit and think," as she was often seen doing. It is rumored that she had a private study within the Cathedral, although allegations to such a room have never been confirmed._

--

The rest of the article continued to describe the history and accomplishments of the school's founder, but I couldn't concentrate on it. The one line of the article had stolen my attention

A private study. Could there actually be a private study in the Cathedral building? And if there was, how would I ever get to it? The only parts of the building that were accessible to students were the library, the historic sanctuary **(Picture in profile)**and, of course, rest rooms and such, all on the bottom floor. Everything else was cut off and locked.

This was frustrating. First of all, I'm sure it was illegal to go wandering through the restriction sections of the Cathedral. Second of all, even if I _could_ manage to sneak away with no one seeing me, how was I supposed to get in?! It was all locked!

"Whatcha doin'?" Alice's voice startled me, taking me away from my frustration with my mission.

I quickly pulled the poem away from view, sticking it under my notebook. "Nothing, just some research."

"School stuff?" She asked as she pulled a large blue Meyer U sweatshirt over her head.

"Yep." The guilt was getting to me.

"Yea, my teachers sent us all work to do too." She grimaced, "It sucks that even though we're stranded we still have homework."

"I know, doesn't it?" Yesterday I had gotten an email from three of my professors detailing some work for us to do. I had reading to finish, a paper to write and a new project to start. "Did you start on the Art History 102 stuff yet? Do you think he's serious about giving us a test to see if we actually did it?"

Alice scowled, "Wouldn't put it past him. Miserable old fool! He couldn't have just let us enjoy our time off, could he?" She ranted, "But yes I did start. Did you want to study together?"

I nodded, putting my things away quickly and bringing out the large textbook, "just let me read through the chapters first. I'll let you know when I'm ready and then we'll quiz each other. Sound good?"

"Perfect."

--

* * *

That evening we were all gathered in mine and Alice's room, each with flashcards made of our own subject. Rosalie, being a Mechanical Engineering major had to study for some class that had to do with electricity and formulas. Jasper, an International Relations major was studying Portuguese. Emmett, who was in pre-law, was studying for his Government Policy class. Edward was studying organic chemistry (a pre-med major) and Alice and I were studying for art history. Each of us had taken another's notes/flashcards and were quizzing each other. It was the funniest studying I'd ever done. 

"OK, Rose," Jasper said, flipping to a new page in her immaculate notebook, "True or false; an NPN transistor is turned on when a positive voltage is applied to the base."

Rosalie flipped her hair back and answered confidently, "True. And that was way too easy. Go to the stuff further in my notes." She then flipped through the notebook in her own hand, "Edward, describe constitutional isomers."

I wrinkled my nose and mouthed a dumbfounded 'huh?' to Alice who stifled a giggle.

"Isomers that have atoms connected to each other in different ways," Edward replied, shoving some popcorn into his mouth. "OK, ladies," he addressed Alice and I who were both studying for the same subject. Edward had my flashcards in his hands while Emmett held Alice's notes. "Name and describe the significance of the painting entitled Le Dej- … I can't pronounce this name." He flipped the card over revealing a miniature version of the painting.

"Le Dejeuner sur l'herbe." I pronounced.

"1863." Said Alice knowledgeably, "Done by Edouard Manet."

"Not to be confused with Monet." I continued, "There is no prevalent beauty in the naked form of the woman in the painting."

At the word 'naked' Emmett studied the painting and grew a look of disgust on his face, "Ew. That's pretty obvious. Look at her."

I laughed and Alice continued our explanation, hiding a smile, "The first time in the time period that a naked woman was not used to symbolize beauty. This is just a clear representation of an ordinary prostitute."

"Ew! What are they teaching you!" Emmett said, taking the picture away from Edward and studying it.

"And what are _you_ so interested in it for?" Rosalie snapped at Emmett.

He immediately looked away from the picture. "I'm just shocked that this school is teaching my little sister about prostitutes." He defended himself, "And it's not even a _good_ prostitute. I mean look at this chick, she's just sitting there all gross looking… she couldn't have cost very much."

Edward, Jasper and I cracked up while Alice laughingly grabbed the picture away from her brother, "Its art!"

"Art or no art, you'd think the guy had better things to do than paint pictures of ugly prostitutes," Emmett maintained, "and Alice, I'm going to call mom and dad and tell them what they're teaching you here. I don't think they'll appreciate it."

"You go right ahead. But remember, mom took the class when she was here too."

"OK, OK," I interrupted, controlling my laughter, "Emmett it's your turn," I flipped through his notes, which were surprisingly neat and organized (not something I would've expected from Emmett) searching for something good to ask, "Name five of the express powers that the Constitution grants the federal government." I looked back up at him expectantly.

Emmett thought for a second, "Collect taxes, regulate interstate commerce… hmm… regulate currency… raise and maintain an army and navy, and…"

"One more," I reminded him, "or no popcorn for you."

"Keep your panties on, I'm getting to it!" he joked and I laughed, "Declare war, that's the fifth one."

"Very good!" I applauded and threw popcorn at him, which he caught in his mouth.

He curled one side of his lip up into a perfect imitation of Elvis Presley, "Thank you, thank you very much."

"OK, can we be done studying now?" Jasper asked, "We've been at this long enough." It was true, we'd been quizzing each other for over two hours now.

"Sounds good to me," Edward said, standing up from his position on the rug of our room. He stretched out and then turned to help me up, pulling me into a hug as he did. I gave him a few quick butterfly kisses as the rest of our posse stood and put away their notes.

"Anyone for TV?" Alice asked.

"Oooh, Bionic Woman is on soon!" Rosalie said excitedly.

Alice squealed, "I LOVE that show!"

"Me too!" I joined in the excitement.

Edward and Jasper groaned, "That's such a chick show," whined Jasper.

Alice looked back at her boyfriend, "excuse me, _chick_ show?"

He looked at her sheepishly and bent down to hug his tiny girlfriend, "You know what I mean. Its so girly." He kissed her neck, making her instantly forgive him.

"But it kicks butt!" Alice settled on her bed, followed by Jasper.

I went to my bed, but found that it was already occupied by Emmett and Rosalie. "Hey!"

They grinned at us, "You snooze you lose, Bells." Emmett said.

I groaned and settled myself at the bottom half on my bed with Edward. We continued turned on the TV, turned off the lights and watched this woman fight her way through the episode.

"Man, I want bionic legs!" Alice said as the main character ran at super speed and jumped a dozen feet into the air.

I turned to Edward, "If you could have one bionic part, what would it be?"

He thought about that for a second. But before he could answer Emmett interrupted. "I know what part _I'd_ want!" he said excitedly, "I'll give you a hint, it's something that would ensure that I'd never have to use Viagra no matter how old I get."

I heard a loud smack; Rosalie had hit him in the back of the head, "Emmett that's so gross!"

He laughed at her, "You say that _now_. But I'd bet you'd change your tune when I put it to good use, baby!"

"Oh jeez, Emmett!" Rosalie tried to stay angry but one look at Emmett's hilarious expression sent her into hysterics.

"Can we please be done discussing your bionic part, Emmett?" Edward demanded, clearly grossed out by his brother.

The night continued like that, all of us joking around watching TV and eating popcorn and candy, laughing at the more ridiculous jokes of Emmett and Alice, who kept coming up with random remarks. The snow outside kept coming down. Although it was lighter now, there were no signs of it stopping any time soon. I was dreading the thought of going out in it.

I had decided that the best time to complete my mission would be as soon as possible. Everything was closed and no one in their right mind would think of venturing out into that weather, so I figured the sooner I got it over with the better. But I still had no idea how I would get in. Earlier in the day, I had searched the Internet and school websites for more information on the building, trying to find the perfect access point. I'd found nothing new. There were entrances all around it, so I figured I'd try each one if the main entrance was locked.

Bah! It's too confusing to think about right now.

By the time Rosalie and Emmett left for Rose's room, I was very tired. I cuddled up in bed next to Edward who had his arms wrapped securely around me with his head in my neck. Feeling his warm body next to mine, I knew I would get another great night's sleep.

* * *


	23. The First Test

The next morning, after Edward left to go do some work in his room, I decided I'd better try to go to the Cathedral building and try to find the key. I bundled up as much as I could while still being able to function.

"Where are you off to?" Alice asked.

"To the studio to get some supplies I left there. I'll need them for a project." I was surprised how easily the lie came about, although I felt horrible about it.

"Oh, Bella, you have to go out in _that_?!" She said pointing to the window. The only thing we could see was white. Everything was covered.

Just looking outside made me want to crawl back into bed. "It'll be ok. I'll be back soon." I grabbed my keys, and left the room.

Oh.

My.

Gosh.

I'm in freaking Antarctica.

Thank goodness it isn't windy, but there's so much snow that I'm practically digging my way across campus. There is a path of footsteps visible where people have dared to venture out, but it isn't large.

My nerves were getting the better of me as I trudged through the snow. _Ok, Bella,_ I said to myself, _It won't be so bad, just get the key and go_. But no matter how much I lied to myself, I knew it wouldn't be so easy. There were a few people outside but not many, no one would notice if I slipped into the building.

The gorgeous structure of the Cathedral was covered in fluffy snow, as were the lawns surrounding it. The snow was brilliant white and untouched all around the building. **(Picture in my profile)** I made my way through the snow to the front entrance, but of course that was locked. _Damn_. I thought. This was going to be more difficult than I thought. I walked around to the sides, trying some other doors.

All locked.

I took out the poem again. Maybe there was something I'd missed. Was I even at the right place?

_To begin your search start to the south._

The south entrance! It was where they'd asked me to meet them during my first encounter with them, before they took me to the masked ball.

Itching with anticipation and excitement, I made my way to the back of the massive stone building, pausing slightly to look at the thick arched door when I got to it. I took a deep breath, crossed my fingers on one hand and used the other to pull on the handle.

The door creaked loudly as it opened. A sudden elation coursed threw me as I stepped inside.

I didn't recognize the room that I was in; all I knew was that it was dark, cold and eerie. I had only ever been to the part of the Cathedral used as a library so it wasn't a surprise that I didn't know my way around. I was in a dark hallway with a low arched ceiling. I took my flashlight out of the messenger bag I had brought with me and turned it on as I made my way through the hallway. There were one a couple of small doors around but they'd only lead to a broom closet and a boiler room.

Towards the end of the hallway, I turned to the left and found a beautiful archway through which I instantly recognized the Sanctuary. Stepping into it, I took in how gorgeous it looked. There was only a small light at the front but the light from outside shone through the great stain glass windows, casting sparkles of colored lights every which way, illumination the enormous room. I had never seen the Sanctuary from this angle; I'd only ever passed it on my way to the library. It was one of the few parts of the building that was accessible to students, mostly because of its historical and architectural attributes.

After gawking at the beauty that was the Sanctuary, I looked around, hoping for a sign of where this hidden study would be. I searched the space carefully, looking for a sign of something out of the ordinary. Nothing stood out to me. The few doors marked Authorized Personnel Only simply held a lounge, some more restrooms and a back room for the library.

Sighing at my lack of progress, I began to wander aimlessly through the open spaces of the building, not seeing anything that could possibly be an abandoned study. Had I read the clues correctly? Making my way to where the front entrance would be, I decided to try to look through the more obvious places, starting from where one would enter normally. I stood with the front doors behind me, trying to figure it out. Normally I would immediately head to the right where the library was. But what was to the left?

To the left, I soon figured out was a wide staircase leading up to an unseen place, but unfortunately it was blocked by an iron gate which was locked.

_I have to get up there_, I thought to myself. I had come too far to turn back now because of a stupid locked gate. I studied it, unsuccessfully reaching through the ornate bars to unlatch it from behind, then finally noticing how it was only about 7 feet tall, not at all as high as the ceiling was which at least 14 feet by the looks of it.

With sheer determination I took off my coat and messenger bag, ran back to the broom closet, grabbing to small ladder I'd seen in there and bringing it back to the gate. I set it up and climbed as far as I could, trying to reach over. Still too short.

_Dang._

I groaned loudly as I climbed back down. I ran to the library and dragged one of the wooden tables back to the gate. I set the ladder up on top of the table, made sure everything was sturdy, said a quick little prayer and then climbed over.

_Yes!_ I thought victoriously as I reached the top and threw my leg over. But one look down made me take that thought back.

_Great, now I'm seven feet in the air with nothing to cushion my landing except hard marble steps. This can't possibly end well._

I steadily worked my feet on the iron gate, trying to ease my way down slowly. It worked at first, but half way down my foot slipped, causing my to slide down, cutting the palm of my hand on one of the sharper edges of the gate and landing hard on my butt.

Wincing in pain, I stood up, wiped the blood off my hand and onto my pants. The pain took a backseat, however, as I easily reached to the latch on the gate and undid it. I propped the gate open with my bag and pushed the table back to the library and then brought the ladder back to the broom closet.

Once I had everything with me again, I made my way up the dark staircase, lit up only with my flashlight. It the top, I found another hallway; this one had small windows through which the white light from outside made its way in. At the end I could see another staircase.

These other stairs were narrower, the hard marble was worn. It looked about a hundred years old, which, I had to remember, it probably was, if not older. I made my way up these stairs, which were no where near as long as the others had been. There was only one door at the end of it. My heart stuttered in my chest as I opened the door.

At first sight I thought I'd entered another lounge. But at a closer look I realized that wasn't the case. The walls of the fairly sized room were made of beautiful beige polished marble. There was a marble fireplace to the side of it with a large ornate mirror above it. To the one corner of the room stood a beautiful dark stone desk with intricate designs carved into it. A large wooden chair stood behind it. The one side of the room had a large bookcase built directly into the wall.

Directly in the center of the room was a statue of a scholarly woman holding a book with an old fashioned dress on, looking far off into the distance with a confident and serene look in her eyes.

I felt a thrill as I looked around the room I now realized was Stephenie Meyer's study. A sense of satisfaction filled me as I realized that this was the _her_ they'd been talking about in the poem. Now all that was left was for me to find the last peace of the puzzle.

There were two very small windows which let in a little bit of light but not much. However, someone had left an oil lantern and matches perched directly on top of the stone desk. I lit it immediately and the two others I found in the room, making the study glow with orange fire light. I took one of the lanterns and made my way around, studying every little details and starting my search for the key.

It wasn't in any of the drawers.

It wasn't behind any of the old looking books on the bookcase.

It wasn't anywhere on the statue of Stephenie Meyer.

I was resting an elbow on the mantel, trying to figure out where to search next when I noticed writing on the one wall next to the fireplace. It was a quote engraved into the polished marble wall:

"_The phoenix is not a mythical creature but one that exists in all of us; for at times of strife we each have the ability to rise from the flames and become stronger and more beautiful because of it."_

It was a very sweet quote but what it didn't help me in my search. Or did it? 'Rise from the flames'? Instinctively I turned my attention to the fireplace. There were ashes!

But who would've lit a fire here? This room hasn't been in use for decades. I bent down and sifted through the ashes in the fireplace.

There was nothing in the ashes themselves, but in sitting on top of a log in the fireplace was a thin midnight blue box.

_Oh my gosh!_ I thought as I hastily picked up the box and opened it. There was a folded up piece of parchment in there, under which stood a rather large, shiny brass key! I picked up the parchment eagerly and read.

_Congratulations!_

_You have proven your daring and brilliance with the completion of this first task. Rest assured that we are very impressed!_

_Here you stand in the private study of Stephenie Meyer, the founder of this school and the idol of our organization. Of course, she is very well known for her beliefs that everyone deserved an education and her work to support that theory. We, however, admire her for a different reason._

_Many years ago, around the time the school was first founded, a young group of students were caught in the woods behind the school, surrounding a fire and telling stories. This might not seem to be a greatly offensive activity, however, you must remember that those were strict times where young men and women were forbidden from even looking at each other without proper chaperones. And the idea of sneaking out in the middle of the night and frolicking in the woods was punishable by expulsion from the institution and a disagreeable reputation in high society._

_Although she was a respected educator, she also believed that life was too short to be spent upholding the pretentious standards set upon by society. It was with this reasoning that she informed the proper authorities that she had given these youngsters permission to gather in the late hour for the purpose of completing a special assignment, a blatant lie that no one but Mrs. Meyer, her husband and those few young students knew the truth of. _

_Those young students became the first ever members of the Twilight League. _

_Since that time, the organization has grown to be much more significant, but the idea has remained the same. We value adventure, we give great merit to wit and knowledge, we applaud bravery and we demand morality and integrity. These are the qualities we search for in our members, the qualities upheld by the great founder of our school. _

_Do you think you have what it takes?_

_We certainly hope so, and, for the time being, you have proven your cleverness and bravery. That is the first step._

_Enclosed in this box you will find a key. Keep it with you, a time will come when you will need it._

_Congratulations,_

_-Ť£-_

--

I stared at the paper with a sudden elation. I was so glad to have figured it out. And this letter was so informative. I studied the statue of Stephenie Meyer; something caught my attention.

There was a ring on her finger. I looked closer at it and gasped. It was a representation of the same ring I'd seen on my grandmother in her pictures. This group had obviously been around for a long time. And _I_ had a chance to be a part of it!

That's when it hit me. This wasn't just about finding my family anymore. It was more than that. I had a chance to be a part of something great, something that would probably change my life. Finding the key had been hard, but it had turned out to be a thrilling adventure; something I never thought I'd ever have the courage to do. As the thought hit me I remembered the letter from my grandmother saying how it's the journey that makes life worth living. Feeling this sense of satisfaction at having gotten the key, I understood what she meant.

_I mean, technically, I'm breaking and entering. _I smiled to myself as I put the parchment and the key back into the box and then put the box in my bag.

I wondered if my grandmother had done this exact same mission or just one like it. Had her father? It made me sad that Renee had never gotten the chance to._But I'll make it better. I'll do this for her._ I promised myself as I put out the fire in the lanterns and made my way out of the study and back to the dorms.

--

* * *

**Whaddaya think?**


	24. Girls Rule!

Alice had bombarded me with questions about where I'd been and what I was thinking when I decided to go out in this weather. I was so frozen that my answers came out undecipherable.

After taking a long hot shower, I'd finally warmed up. I pulled on a black velour track suit and dried my hair before I went back out into the room.

"Feel better?" Alice asked. She had been the one to help me take off my coat and such when my frozen fingers couldn't do the job. She came over with a cup of tea for me.

"Lots," I answered accepting the mug. "Thanks."

"So what were you doing out there?"

The guilt went through me again as I realized I'd have to keep lying to her. "I was at the studio," I couldn't meet her eyes, "I just got held up with stuff there."

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

My eyes snapped up, "What?"

She rolled her eyes, "When you left you said you were going to get something you left there. Did you find it?"

"Um, yep." I took a sip, mostly just to avoid more questioning, but I burned my tongue on the hot tea. "So what do you want to do tonight?" I asked her after the pain subsided.

Alice sighed. "I don't know. I'm getting so sick of being cooped up in here."

"I know what you mean. Soccer practices have been cancelled and I haven't been practicing on my own or anything. It's not going to be pretty when they start back up again."

"Bella, you're brilliant!!" She said suddenly jumping up and down in excitement.

"Thank you, but why?"

She ran to my side of the room and grabbed my soccer ball. "We're going to help you train."

I shook my head, "Alice, the gym is closed and it's much too snowy to practice outside. Trust me, I was just there."

"No, silly, we're going to the rec room downstairs!" She looked at me as though expecting some great reaction, but her expectations fell short, "Bella, please wipe that dumbfounded look off your face, you look like Napoleon Dynamite."

I laughed and thanked her sarcastically. "But seriously, a rec room?"

"Of course, every dorm has a rec room. It's a huge room downstairs on the lower level. It's completely empty. Come on." **(Each of the two dorms I lived in each had a rec room, I don't know if it's standard for all)**

We grabbed some sneakers, our keys, cell phones and my soccer ball and headed downstairs. The rec room was in the basement, or actually, it _was_ the basement. The room was huge! It was as wide as the entire dormitory; it has dark hard wood floors through the entire length and was brightly lit with white walls. It kind of looked like a large dance studio only without the mirrors.

"Ok Bella, I want to help you train but first you'll have to teach me how to play."

I took her through some basic exercises, teaching her the proper way to kick and how to pass the ball. Alice took each lesson eagerly, energetically kicking the ball around. Sometimes too energetically.

"Alice!" I shrieked, ducking down to the floor before I got hit by the soccer ball. Alice, in her all her enthusiasm, delivered such a powerful kick that the ball ricocheted off the wall on the opposite end of the room and came back towards us with so much force, you'd think someone shot it out of a cannon.

She smiled sheepishly, "Oops!"

I got up off the floor and took the soccer ball from her, settling it down on the floor in front of her feet, "No, that was good, but let's try not to break the building this time ok?"

After an hour she was really getting the hang of it.

"Ok, now how do you normally train at practices?" She asked me.

I showed her some of the basic drills we usually went through. Even after only a few days of not practicing, I could feel the slight strain on my muscles.

"Bella," Alice said, out of breath, "You do this three times a week at 6 in the morning?" She looked amazed.

I laughed at her expression, "You get used to it. Anyway, do you want to play an actual game? These drills must be really boring for you."

Before she had a chance to reply, my cell phone rang. I skipped over to pick it up, instantly recognizing the ring tone. "Hi Edward!"

"Hey!" I heard the smile in his voice; it made my heart flutter just imagining the beauty of it, "Where are you guys? Jasper and I headed down to your room but you're not there."

"We're in the rec room downstairs."

"Our dorm has a rec room?"

"I didn't know about it either, up until a little over an hour ago. Come down and bring sneakers, I'm teaching Alice how to play soccer. We're about to start a game."

"Awesome! I'm getting so sick of just lying around and studying."

I laughed, "Ok, see you soon." I put down my cell phone and walked back over to Alice who was practicing kneeing the ball. **(Please forgive me, but I'm not a soccer player and thus don't know much about terms and such)**

"Hey, the guys are coming down to play too."

"Yay!" She squealed.

About ten minutes later, Jasper, Edward, Emmett and Rosalie came into the rec room in work out clothes, ready to play.

"Jasper, I learned how to kick!" Alice shrieked excitedly as she hopped over to hug him.

Edward came over to me and picked me up in a big hug. I kissed him sweetly on the lips before he put me back down.

Rosalie picked up the ball, "So how are we doing this?"

"Three on three," Alice said, "Should we just do girls against boys?"

Emmett spoke up, "Now that doesn't seem fair to you girls."

Alice, Rosalie and I glared at him, "And why not?" Rosalie challenged.

Emmett rolled his eyes, "Come on, Rose. Jasper, Edward and I are all on the football team."

"_And?_" Alice demanded. "That's _football_! This is _soccer_!" She looked over to Jasper for support. But he didn't meet her eyes.

"I don't believe this, you two think that you'll win just because you're boys?" I looked to Edward, seeing if he believed this madness.

He pulled me into him by my waist, looking at me with a sweet sheepish smile on his face. He was clearly siding with his brother. "It's not because we're boys. But we're jocks. Alice and Rosalie haven't ever really played soccer. We're just saying the odds are better for us."

"Hey!" Rosalie said, "I was on a soccer team when I was younger."

"You quit when you were in 8th grade." Jasper reminded his sister, "It's been a while."

She glared at him, "It's like riding a bike. It'll come back to me."

I was suddenly filled with a fierce determination to show these boys what we were made of, "Ok then," I said pulling myself away from Edward. "I think we'll take those odds. But since you seem so determined to make this fair for us 'poor little girls', then you won't mind waiting outside and letting me spend a few minutes alone with my team, then do you?"

The boys all looked at each other and shrugged. They promptly left the room, casting curious looks at us on their way out.

I turned to Alice and Rosalie. "Ok, we only have a few minutes. Let me teach you guys a few pointers."

They both paid rapid attention as I went through a few moves with them, teaching them how to easily maneuver the ball away from the other team. We were all itching to beat the boys.

After about fifteen minutes, Edward popped his gorgeous head back into the room. "Ready?"

I looked at the girls and they nodded. "Yep."

The three boys filed into the room, each taking a stand in the center of the room in front of their girlfriends. We stared at them challengingly. They simply grinned at us. _They really think they have this in the bag_, I thought in disbelief. I shot a look at the girls, and they nodded. We were ready.

Neither team really had a goalie, but when necessary, Rose acted as ours and Emmett as theirs. We began the game, but the boys immediately got in possession of the ball, Jasper passed it to Edward easily. He bypassed Alice and was about to go for the goal before I cut in front of him and took the ball. I went as fast as I could to the other side, kicking it towards Rosalie who had already positioned herself on the other side of the room. She knocked it easily past the barriers we had set up as the goals.

"Yes!" Rose, Alice and I yelped in unison. The boys had a look of pure shock on their faces. After regaining our composure, we started again. This time however, Edward slipped passed us all and scored.

"Yea!" The guys said as they pounded fists. We scowled at them.

It continued like that for over two hours, both teams keeping neck in neck. We all started to get really tired and sweaty but neither team was willing to leave the game while the other team was ahead.

"Ok," I said, out of breath, "How about the next team to score a goal wins?" Everyone nodded in agreement.

"So what are you ladies going to do for us when we win?" Emmett said grinning.

Rosalie rolled her eyes at him, "Why don't we make this interesting? How about if you win, we'll spend the entire day tomorrow catering to anything you ask. We'll be at your beck and call all day tomorrow starting at midnight tonight until midnight tomorrow."

Emmett's eyes widened as a sly smile spread across his face, "Anything?" He cocked one eyebrow up suggestively.

"Yes, you pervert, even that." She scoffed at his not-so-subtle hint. "Although _that_must be within reason."

I looked at her as though she was crazy, "Um, Rose…"

Edward looked at me, "What, suddenly doubting your abilities, Ms. Swan?"

I shot him a look, "No."

Rosalie continued, "But if _we_ win, you have to do the same for us. Anything we ask for 24 hours."

"With no complaining," Alice cut in.

"And you have to take us all out to a really nice dinner as soon as the weather lets up." Rosalie added.

Jasper held up his hands, "Whoa, whoa. That's a lot of stuff right there. But fine." He looked at Emmett and Edward; both nodded to him, grinning amusedly, "We agree with your terms." He grinned at us smugly, "May the best team win, ladies." He bowed his head slightly and rejoined his team.

Alice glared at his retreating back. We huddled together, "Ok we really need to wipe those annoying smirks off their faces." She said.

"And _fast_." I said.

"Ok, then, let's get to this." Rosalie said. We pounded fists and walked over to stand in front of the boys.

The final round started and we all scrambled to get to the ball. We were in possession right off the bat. Alice had the ball but was suddenly being cornered by both Emmett and Edward. She shot the ball over to me, but not before Jasper got it and made his way towards our goal with it.

Rosalie was in position before anyone had a chance to respond. By the time Jasper kicked the ball to score a goal, Rose jumped spectacularly into the air and caught it. Emmett's jaw could've hit the floor as soon as he saw that. He froze immediately in shock. Jasper groaned but Rose immediately threw the ball to me. I kicked it down to the other side of the room, bypassing Jasper easily. Soon, though Edward was closing in on me. I saw an opening but I knew he'd catch it before it could go through the goal. I kicked the ball to Alice who wasn't being guarded. She caught it easily with her feet and maneuvered her way down the room. Let me tell you that her tiny size definitely came in handy. She was able to slip by the boys easily, ducking and sliding past them.

Emmett was positioned in front of the goal barriers, with another annoyingly cocky smile on his face, ready to catch the ball. Alice and I shot a look at each other. I nodded to her, sending her a silent message. Emmett turned to look at me, trying to understand what he was missing but I gave him a triumphant smile. He turned back to look at his sister who had a menacing look on her face as she took her position behind the ball. He suddenly understood.

Alice's leg wound back before going with full force towards the ball, kicking it with all her might once again. Emmett immediately flattened himself on the floor as the ball shot past him into the goal, bounced loudly off the wall and rocketed back towards the other side of the room, (All the boys also ducked just in time as the ball flew past them) then propelled back towards their goals once again, stopping right over the line.

"Goooooooooooaaaaaaal!!" Alice screamed as the three of us jumped around triumphantly.

We won!!

--

* * *

After our showering, the girls and I settled ourselves in Alice and my room. I was snuggled on the window seat, reading. Rosalie was french braiding her hair to perfection in the bathroom, while Alice was reading through some flashcards. We were actually all waiting for twelve o'clock to strike so that our reign could start. 

Finally, the clock struck twelve. "It's time, ladies!" Rosalie came out of the bathroom looking excited. I laughed excitedly as I thought about how much fun the next 24 hours were going to be. "Where are those boys?"

Soon enough, however, the boys knocked on the door.

"You guys are late." Alice said as Jasper made his way over to her. She kissed his cheek as he gave her a scared look. "Don't worry, it won't be so bad." He lay down on the bed, letting her rest her cards on him while she studied. His first task was to quiz her.

Edward came over and sat with me on the window seat. "So what's the first thing you'd like me to do for you?" He asked with my favorite crooked smile on his face.

"Hmm…" I said as I cuddled into him, "You can start my holding me while I read."

He settled into the seat with his legs up, as I sat with my back to him, leaning on his chest and resting my head on his shoulder. "As you wish," His breath tickled me as he whispered into my ear before placing a sweet, lingering kiss on my temple.

Emmett settled himself on my bed. He held his arms out for Rosalie to join him with an optimistic smile.

"What do you think you're doing?" Rosalie said to him with her eyebrows raised.

He grinned, "Letting you cuddle with me. I'm just doing what you want."

"What makes you think that's what I want?" Rosalie laughed, "Bella might choose to let Edward take it easy for a while, but I have other plans for you." Emmett's smile faded, "I'm going to need a pedicure."

Emmett looked like the grim reaper had just shown up to take him away, "Please…" he whispered with a look of pure horror on his face, "Rose… no…"

I stifled a giggle at his expression.

Rosalie sat down on one of our disk chairs, "Alice, where do you keep your nail stuff?"

"In the bathroom, under the sink in a pink basket." She tried to sound calm but her choked back laughter made her voice come out uneven.

Emmett groaned as he made his way into the bathroom and coming back out holding a large pink Hello Kitty basket with Alice's large supply of nail products.

"Ok, Em," Rosalie instructed him, "First you have to take the current nail polish off, and then you can apply the base coat. While you do that, I'll choose a color."

Emmett got to work on Rosalie's feet.

I tilted my head back and leaned further into Edward's perfect body, "Aren't you glad I don't paint my nails?"

"Sublimely," He responded. He lifted his hands to my shoulders and started massaging them. His fingers worked magic on my muscles. "You're so tense," he noticed, "Anything stressing you out lately?"

Silently, my mind wandered back to my earlier adventure in the Cathedral and I felt a sly smile spread across my face, "You know, I really can't think of anything."

* * *

Your reviews gave me such a burst of energy that I got three long chapters done today! YAY! Thank you thank you thank you! 

I must give a shout out to user Leria who was gracious enough to help me out with my writer's block problem :)

You know what to do :)


	25. Dealing with It

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I just loved them so much that I put them in a new universe. Don't hate me… or sue me.**

* * *

The next morning, the boys made us breakfast in bed. Edward and Jasper made us omelets while Emmett fumbled around looking for strawberry yogurt for Rosalie. The memory of her adventures with Emmett made me laugh.

After one base coat, two color coats and one top coat of nail polish, Rosalie's nails had been picture perfect.

"My gosh, Emmett, you could be a professional." She'd told him as she studied her feet.

"Thanks," He'd scowled, "I'll keep that in mind if the whole lawyer thing doesn't work out."

Apparently, Rosalie still wasn't forgiving him for his sexist comments before our little soccer game.

After a lovely morning filled with cuddling, we let the boys do some studying (classes were going to resume tomorrow). I focused on my work, getting a little drafting in and finishing a few other assignments before the early evening when the boys came back and made us all dinner. (It was only frozen pizza, but still, it's the thought that counts.) They continued to satisfy our every whim until we finally all settled down to watch a movie.

At 10 o'clock, Rosalie pulled Emmett away and into her room. I did the same with Edward, going up to his room and leaving Jasper and Alice in our room.

"What's going on?" Edward asked me as we made our way into his room.

"There's one more thing I want before midnight comes around."

He wrapped his arms around me, correctly anticipating my answer. "And what might that be?"

I placed my arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. "Just a little alone time with you."

"Ahh, I see." He kissed me back. "That sounds reasonable."

I smiled. "Good."

--

* * *

The next week was hectic. It was still freezing outside, but the streets were plowed and there was no excuse left for any cancellation of classes. The professors had more than made up for the missed class time; they'd piled on so much work that I barely saw any of my friends that following week. And classes were nothing compared to the grueling soccer practices that week. Coach Graysly had been thoroughly disappointed that hardly anyone on the team had bothered to train or exercise at all during the time we had off. She made up for it by working us extra hard, not three but _four_ times that week. I found myself being unable to get my moves just the way I wanted. I worked extra hard on my time off to practice a little harder with no luck. By the time Friday rolled around, my body was so exhausted that I wanted nothing more than to sleep for the entire weekend straight.

It was late in the afternoon when Alice came grumbling inside the room, dropping everything and laying down in her bed.

"Everything ok?" I asked her, raising my head slightly off my pillow. I was already in bed, having arrived just a few minutes before her.

"Can't talk… too exhausted." She murmured.

I chuckled, "Okie doke. Sweet dreams."

"Oh, by the way, Bella," She began, "There's a party tomorrow that we have to go to."

I groaned, "No, please Alice, I'm so tired! And I have so much work to do. I can't go to a party."

"Yes you can, and you were expressly invited. It's being held by Logan, Josh and Jasper. I'm helping plan. It'll be a winter wonderland theme. Everything's all set up already. Everyone on campus is pretty much going to be there."

I sighed, admitting defeat. "Would it do me any good to argue with you?"

She giggled, "Nope."

I meant to argue with her anyway but I was too tired. I just fell asleep.

When I woke up from my short nap, I felt a pair of strong arms around me. I turned over to face the person beside me.

"Hello sleepy," Edward smiled his beautiful crooked smile at me.

"Hi," I smiled, my voice still raspy from sleeping. With one hand he swept my long dark hair out of my face and kissed my forehead. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Only about two hours. I just got here a little while ago, you looked so comfortable I had to join you."

I hugged him tightly, "I'm glad you did."

He returned to hug, digging his lips into my neck and placing soft kisses there. "So what are your plans for the rest of the day?"

_Boy_ was it ever hard to concentrate when he was this close to me, "Um… besides this?"

I felt Edward chuckle against my neck, "Yes."

"Hmm…" I ran my fingers through his soft hair, "I don't know, did you have anything in mind?"

"Not really," his lips made their way to my jaw, brushing against my skin. I smiled and pulled his face up to meet mine, kissing his perfect lips.

Our blissful moment was soon interrupted by my phone. Groaning, I made to reach over to the bed side table and grab my phone but my sore muscles ached at the sudden movement. Edward reached over for me and handed me the cell phone. I took a quick glance at the screen to see who was calling before I picked up.

"Hey Dad." I said into the phone.

"Hey Bells, how've you been?" I heard him respond.

"Pretty good," I leaned comfortably into Edward as I talked with my father, "How's Forks?"

"Oh pretty much the same as always." Charlie said with a small chuckle, "I miss you, kid."

"Miss you too, Dad."

Charlie hesitated on the line, "So Bella…" He paused again.

_Uh-oh_, I though to myself. I knew that tone. It was his I-Have-Bad-News/Something-Uncomfortable-To-Talk-To-You-About tone. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Bella, I just need to talk to you about something…" Another pause, "Do you remember what March 17th is?"

I froze.

Like I'd ever forget the day Renee was taken away from me.

"Yes," I responded once I found my voice. March 17th was a day I unsuccessfully tried to avoid for almost quite a few years now.

"Well, Bella, this year will make it an even ten."

I didn't know what to say. I was overcome by a powerful urge to run away, end this conversation, go for a run, watch a movie… anything to take my mind off of this.

"Bella, are you still there?"

I closed my eyes trying to regain my composure and cleared my throat. "Yes." I felt Edward's arms wrapped tightly around me; he could probably tell something was wrong.

Charlie continued, clearly uncomfortable, "Well, honey, I was thinking about having another memorial service." I don't know where it came from but a strange panic arose within me. I was only half listening as my father spoke, "A few of her old friends brought up the idea to me and I thought it was a good one."

"Dad…" What could I say? That I didn't want to go? "After all this time… why?"

"It's a good thing to do, Bella. Besides I thought this would be good for you too… the last time you weren't-"

"Dad," I interrupted, "I was there the last time, okay?"

"Not for the entire thing."

"Is that why you want to do this, because if it is then that's ridiculous. I don't see the point in opening up old wounds. It happened, we dealt with it and its over." I felt a little bad about talking to my father that way, but I couldn't go through that again. I don't know how I got through it the first time.

"Bella, I didn't call to argue with you. But it's happening and I thought I'd give you enough time to open up your schedule for it. You should be there for it this time."

"I was there the last time!"

"Not entirely, Bella. You can't deny that."

Panic, once again, "Dad… I have finals around then anyway…"

"Isabella Marie Swan," Charlie said my full name acidly into the phone. It wasn't often that he got angry, but when he did, he could be very scary. "This is your mother's memorial service! I'm booking you a flight for the day before and you will be there. Do you understand?"

I sighed in defeat, "Yes sir."

"Good." He sighed too, calming down, "Thank you, Bella … I love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

I hung up the phone and turned to face Edward, sighing and leaning my head into his chest. His embrace was so comforting.

But the silence didn't last long, "Is everything ok?"

I nodded.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded again.

He kissed the top of my head, "If you need to talk, Bella…"

I stopped him before he could finish the sentence, "I know." But I didn't need to talk. That's the _last_ thing I needed. Why is it that everyone always insists in _talking_ about death and _dealing_ with it? It happened and it's over.

That's it.

I've spent almost ten years trying to never forget my mother, I didn't need another memorial service to remember her. She's the reason behind almost everything I do. The reason I came to this school, the reason behind my involvement in the Twilight League. Her memory is the catalyst for all my major decisions. I could never forget her, on the contrary I've spent my days fighting to become closer to her, even if it is just her memory.

In all honesty, though, her death was never real to me. Part of me is still waiting for her to appear, if I could find her again. _Oh God, I sound insane… even in my own head._

"Bella?" Edward said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Hmm?"

Instead of answering me, he tilted my face up to meet his, suddenly locking our lips together and working his rhythmically against mine. His touch was heavenly, I felt myself getting lightheaded as his fingers gripped my waist and pulled me closer to him. If this was his way of bringing my attention back to him, it was definitely working.

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**Okay, so we're getting into more serious things here, folks. Please bear with me while I get through these next couple of chapters, its important to the story but the cute stuff will be in there too. I know this was short but the next chapter is turning out to be much longer than I planned so I had to split them up. Wish me luck on my finals! Those of you who are going through the same thing, I'm sorry.  
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	26. Winter Wonderland

**Thanks for all the reviews and I apologize for not responding to all... I'm on a time crunch but I will as soon as I can. Thank you guys so much!**

**The brilliant Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.**

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"Alice, you didn't tell me I'd need a costume for this thing!" I protested as Alice informed me of the required attire for the Winter Wonderland party.

Alice shook her head at me, "It's not a _costume_! It's just a theme. Everyone's wearing either silver or white. It's fun!"

"Let me guess," I raised my eyebrows at her, "_you_ came up with this idea."

"Duh!"

Laughing, I made my way to my wardrobe and pulled out the very few white items. It never occurred to me to buy white clothes, considering my clumsy tendencies to spill things it didn't seem practical. I had a tank top, one old sweater and… that's pretty much it.

"Alice…?"

"No worries, Bella," she assured me with a giggle. "I'll be picking your outfit. Just go shower. It'll be ready for you when you come out."

I shrugged and made my way to the bathroom, relishing the hot water when I entered the shower, but only for a few short moments before turning off the water so that Alice could have her turn. I wrapped my terrycloth robe securely around me and made my way out of the bathroom, towel drying my hair on the way.

Sure enough, Alice had an outfit out for me already on my bed, consisting of a white knee length cable-knit sweater dress with a silver belt to be put around the waist. The dress had long sleeves and it would reach right above my knees. I saw a pair of short strappy silver heels next to my bed.

We spent almost an hour getting ready (personally, I would've been ready in about 20 minutes but Alice insisted on me using a curling iron. After two minor burns, she graciously took it from me and proceeded to put my hair into a stylish, loose half ponytail with cool waves.). Rosalie came over about half an hour after we started to get ready, already dressed to perfection in a mid-thigh length silver pencil skirt and a lacy white corset top paired with a white shawl wrapped around her shoulders and secured with a brooch shaped like a sparkling snowflake. She did my make-up, doing some really intricate work on my eyes with white and silver make up, somehow making it look good on me. After we were all pretty much done (Alice looked amazing in a silver sequined strapless dress with an empire waist and heels to match), we went up to get Edward and Emmett.

Rose knocked on their door and we heard Emmett impatiently speaking as he made his way to open the door, "It's about ti-" He paused when he took one look at his girlfriend.

She simply cocked her head to one side and raised her eyebrows at him, "You were saying?"

"Uh…" His eyes roamed over her body, "I have no idea…"

She laughed as he pulled her into a tight hug.

Alice jumped impatiently, "Are you guys ready yet?"

Edward came over and grabbed both my hands, then stepped back to take in my outfit, "You look… incredible."

Blushing furiously, I hugged him, "Thank you. You look great too." He was looking delicious as usual, in a pair of light grey slacks and a white button down shirt.

We made our way out into the cold night and to the party which was being held on the ground floor of the house Josh, Logan and some other people shared on campus. When we walked in, I felt my jaw drop.

Inside was gorgeous! Everything was sparkling white and silver with large fake snowflakes all hanging everywhere. There was a DJ and a bar on opposite ends of the room. Fluffy fake snow was gathered in random places and the few couches covered in gathered white fabric in the corners. The place was lit with dangling white Christmas lights on every wall. It was incredible.

"Hey Josh," Emmett greeted him as he, Jasper and Melanie, a black-haired girl I had met at breakfast at Jasper's last term, came over to us. Melanie was Josh's girlfriend and also an upper-classman, we'd hung out with at a few parties and such over the last few months. I found her to be really nice.

"Hey guys," Josh said as greeted all of us. Jasper kissed Alice sweetly on the lips before greeting the rest of us. "Alice, you really performed a miracle on this place." Josh said gesturing to our surroundings.

Alice squealed in delight, "Thanks! It looks good doesn't it?"

"Alice, _you_ did all this?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yep!"

"It looks incredible!" Rosalie said looking around.

"Looks like we're early," Edward said, taking notice at all the space in the room. It seemed that there were already about 30 people there, but I'd been to a few parties here before and they were always pretty big.

"Yea, kind of. We don't really know what the turn out will be, there wasn't much notice." Melanie said.

"Time for drinks," Emmett said, leading Rosalie to the bar. The rest of us followed.

After about half an hour and one Rum and Coke, people were starting to file into the space. The DJ was playing more upbeat tunes now, willing everyone to start dancing.

Rosalie took the last sip of her cup, "It's so nice not to be stuck in the dorms anymore."

"Yea but we're still stuck with a ton of snow everywhere," Emmett said.

"That storm was insane," Josh said, "On Saturday the snow had piled so high it was almost impossible to get across campus." He was right; I remembered my adventure last Saturday at the Cathedral and how hard it had been just getting there.

Edward shook his head at him, "I don't know what on Earth could've possessed you to go out in that insanity."

Josh raised his eyebrows briefly, "I had to check on something."

Wait a minute…

"Hey, let's dance!" Rosalie said putting her empty cup down and beckoning Emmett with one finger. Edward took my empty cup away from me and set it down next to Rosalie's, then he led me to the dance floor.

The strong drink had calmed my nerves slightly, not that I'd been nervous at all; I'd grown to feel very comfortable around these people. But the prospect of dancing always set me on edge a little… I'm not the most coordinated person that ever walked the earth.

Edward, smiled at me, as though reading my thoughts, "Don't worry," he whispered in my ear, "I won't let you get hurt."

I chuckled, "It's not me I'm worried about. Imagine if I stepped on your foot while wearing these heels."

Edward laughed, "Good point. But just the same, I think I'll take my chances."

We joined the rest of our party on the dance floor where I moved to the beat smoothly, with Edward's help, of course. Through out the night, we danced and talked with a few friends. I knew a lot of the people here, some I'd met through Alice, Rose and Edward and the others I'd met from classes and such.

At one point Emmett and his little sister had us all in hysterics with their crazy dance moves, per usual at parties after they've had a few drinks. They tried unsuccessfully to get Edward to join them for about 20 minutes before Alice finally forced him to move. Rosalie, Jasper and I, along with a couple of our other friends were holding our sides in laughter.

Finally, Edward gave it up, came to my side and pulled me close to him. "So, you think my moves are funny do you?"

I nodded, "Funny but very impressive."

He shrugged mockingly, "I can bring it out when I need to." I laughed. "Come on," he said, leading me back to the bar, "Let's get you a drink."

"Okay." I let him lead me with one hand on the small of my back. When we got to the bar, I noticed Lauren and Mike standing nearby, shooting bitter looks at us the entire time. Edward seemed not to notice her so I shrugged it off. One of the bartenders handed him two cups, one of which he handed to me before leading me back to our group who had moved to the side of the dance floor.

The boys soon started animatedly discussing the prospects of next years football team, at which point Rosalie decided she needed to dance again. Since I had finished my second drink already, she pulled me with her and we were shortly joined my Alice, Melanie and Tanya, who had just arrived at the party. I bounced happily to the music as a song I recognized came on.

We had only been dancing for two songs when Mike came over to us.

"Hey, Bella," was the first thing he said, "Can I talk to you for a second…" he looked around to eye the people I was with, "alone?"

I felt a mixture of panic, anger and annoyance at just listening to him. Rosalie and Alice were by my side in a heartbeat but before they could interject, I answered. "Mike, there is no way I'd ever be alone with you. I'm having fun so could you please not ruin it and go away?"

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Alice hide a smile and Rosalie break into a wicked grin. I was shocked at my own daring… I wasn't normally this outspoken.

Mike, however, did not back down, "I think you have the wrong idea about what happened that night… you drank too much and I was just going to lead you home" he argued, "Before Cullen decided to interrupt. You wouldn't remember but we were having a really nice time before-"

"Shut up!" I snapped at him, suddenly furious. "I know exactly what happened."

Rosalie, clearly livid as well, decided that now was the perfect time to butt in, "Mike,_everyone_ knows the true story of what happened that night. So why don't you save your pitiful self the embarrassment and leave now?"

"And since you have such a messed up idea of the _real_ story, let me clarify it for you," I continued, more confidently than I felt, "_Edward_ saved me from you and your idiotic idea of romance. Or is drugging a girl into sleeping with you considered romantic these days?"

Mike looked angry, "_Cullen_ is an idiot, and you're just another girl to fall for the act."

"Mike," Alice spoke slowly and angrily, "You don't know what the hell you're talking about, so please go away."

"Don't believe me?" He spat angrily, "Take a look for yourself," he gestured towards where Edward and the guys were sitting. The guys were talking but Edward was off to the side talking to Lauren who was clearly throwing herself at him. "I'm betting he won't be able to resist her much longer, nor will he want to. Lauren always gets what she wants and she wants him. She already had him once; it shouldn't be too hard for her to have him again."

I could tell that my friends around me were furious. I, however, found it a little funny and kind of pitiful. It had taken me a lot to learn to trust Edward, but trust him I did. I wasn't going to let Mike or Lauren break down my confidence in him. Mike looked taken aback at my indifferent expression. "Seriously? You thought what? You would wait until we were separated for a few minutes to each take us on one on one?" The flabbergasted expression on his face confirmed my suspicions. "You are seriously pathetic. Now for the last time, leave us alone."

He looked back towards his partner in crime and smirked bitterly, "You're kidding yourself if you think you're different from the other thousand chicks." And with that he walked away.

I turned to look at Edward who looked thoroughly uncomfortable. I knew I'd been right about Lauren and Mike's plan when Lauren turned to look at me, following his gaze. She shot me a dirty look then turned back to him, saying something.

"Bella," Rosalie said, "I will gladly throw her out for you."

"Yea," Melanie said this time, "That girl has always been trouble. I had the great displeasure of talking to her a few times before, she's incredibly annoying. Just say the word Bella…"

I smiled at them; their support was touching. "Thanks guys, but I think can handle it." I gathered as much confidence as I could muster and walked over to them, my friends right behind me. It was time to end this once and for all. I trusted Edward and this bimbo was messing with him. I successfully contained my anger as I stopped right behind her and tapped her shoulder.

"Hello, Lauren." I said politely. "Would you excuse me? I want to dance with my boyfriend now." Once again I noticed my friends hiding an amused grin.

She gave me a look of pure venom. "Actually _Bella_," she said my name as though it was a dirty word. "Edward and I are talking about our upcoming date…"

Alice drew in a breath and was about to respond when we heard laughter coming from behind Edward. Emmett, Jasper, Josh and Logan, who had joined them, were all laughing.

"Sorry, bro," Emmett said to his brother as they all moved closer to the scene, "We were taking bets on exactly how many times you'd have to say 'no' before she took the hint."

Edward looked annoyed. "Thanks so much." He said sarcastically to his brother.

Josh turned to me, "Don't worry, Bella, they definitely were not arranging a date."

Rosalie, Alice, Tanya and Melanie were laughing now also. I chuckled appreciatively, "Thanks Josh, I figured." I turned back to Lauren who had turned bright red.

"Lauren," Alice said, shaking her head with mock pity, "Haven't you humiliated yourself enough?"

Right on cue Edward slithered past her and stood by my side, wrapping an arm around my waist.

Lauren looked like she was about to say something but that's when Mike, along with a couple of his goonies showed up, standing behind Lauren. "Hey, Lauren, you okay?"

"She was just leaving." Alice said looking dead into her eyes.

"I don't remember making that decision." Lauren said acidly, but it didn't reach her eyes.

Rosalie took her turn, "We made it for you." Lauren flinched ever so slightly.

"Bella, I sure was wrong about you." Mike said once more, "You're just as big idiot as the rest of the clueless chicks who were in your position. You definitely picked the wrong guy."

In my fury, I was faintly aware of Edward's low growl beside me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Emmett, Jasper, Joshua and Logan take a defensive stance behind us.

Edward spoke slowly and menacingly. "Mike." His hostile tone sent chills down my spine, "You will NEVER speak to my girl again. One more attempt at insulting her, and you'll find yourself missing a few limbs."

Mikes confidence seemed to fail him briefly; his friends, who I'm guessing were there to make him look more intimidating, were looking at us with careful stares, and raised eyebrows, clearly nervous. "_Your_ girl? Which one?" he scoffed, "You have so many to choose from."

Edward made to move forward but Jasper held him back. Emmett made a low snarling noise also, his face contorted into a bone-chilling glare, like a protective bear ready to attack; he was clearly pissed off… Mike's friends started backing away, taking in how big and threatening Emmett was at this moment.

But no one was as angry as I was in that moment.

Honestly, I don't know what made me to it; I wasn't normally a violent person. But I guess the stress of classes, school projects, unsuccessful soccer practices and my recent conversation with my father, along with the added bonus of this little episode at the party all got to me. Before I even knew what happened, I stepped forward and drew my arm back and suddenly snapped my fist forward, right into Mike's face. Hard.

Mike fell back, I don't know if it was out of shock or because it was a hard blow. All I knew was that when he got back up, his nose was bleeding.

After the initial shock of the moment, Lauren was about to retaliate on me but Joshua, Logan, Emmett, Alice and Rosalie stepped forward with looks that dared her to take another step (Jasper was still holding a fuming Edward back). Needless to say she didn't move an inch.

Joshua spoke, his tone was icy cold, it was completely different from his normally pleasantly polite nature, "You're kidding yourself if you think we're going to let you come to _our_ house and insult _our_friends. Leave now or we'll remove you."

Mike's friends took an immediate step back, putting up their hands in a sign of surrender. I was immediately reminded of a conversation I'd had with Alice where she'd mentioned how they'd always wanted Josh, Logan, Jasper and the Cullen boys to join their fraternity. They were pretty influential on campus. That fact was clearly registered on their faces. These were not people Mike's friends wanted to piss off. They lead Mike and Lauren away and out of the house.

We watched them leave in silence, following their every step with our eyes.

"Whoa Bella, what a right hook!" Emmett exclaimed as soon as they were gone. All the tension immediately left and was replaced my laughter. Emmett started clapping, joined shortly by a few others.

I felt my face flush a deep red, "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry to have done that at your party. Honestly, I don't know what came over me, I'm not usually violent. I'm so sorry!"

Logan laughed, "Bella, relax, that was awesome!"

"Yea, Bella," Melanie cut in, "Someone had to shut him up." She said and everyone laughed more.

Joshua smiled, "Very impressive. I think we were all about to jump on someone, you just beat us to the punch... no pun intended" I finally laughed at that.

Edward, finally free from Jasper's restraint, hugged me tightly. I heard him let out a deep sigh, but when he pulled back, I saw that he was grinning amusedly, "How's your hand?"

In all the commotion, I'd completely disregarded my right hand, "What? Oh… OW!" I said, noticing that it was bleeding slightly. Everyone cracked up.

Edward picked up an unused napkin from a nearby table, wiped my knuckles and then kissed my hand, "Does it hurt badly?" He asked looking at me with an intense look and his perfect crooked smile.

Was he kidding? I couldn't feel anything all of the sudden. "Nope. I hardly feel it now."

He smiled and pulled me in for a little squeeze.

"Ok enough of this," Alice said, bouncing excitedly, "All this adrenaline needs an outlet. Let's dance!" Before anyone could stop her, she linked arms with Tanya and pulled her out onto the dance floor.

Without another word we all headed onto the dance floor, cutting across the numerous people who were staring at us, having just witnessed the scene. Edward pulled me close to him and moved my hips against his, leading me. After a minute or so of my back facing his chest, he spun me around and kissed me passionately. I instinctively put my arms around his neck and pulled him closer as we moved to the beat, letting my fingers slip into his soft hair. I was becoming lightheaded from his kiss until he pulled away.

Without thinking, I spoke. "Um… Wow" I had said the first thing that came to my head and then blushed furiously, realizing how stupid I sounded.

Edward threw his head back and laughed. "Didn't you tell me once that I didn't dazzle you?"

"You don't," I said, not meeting his eyes.

He nodded but the look in his eyes told me he didn't believe me, "Sure." Once again he swooped down and kissed me deeply, moving one hand up right under my jaw as the other held my waist and taking my breath away. "You were saying?"

I couldn't help the huge smile spreading across my face as my rapidly beating heart and reddening face gave me away. I could no longer deny it.

Dang.

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**Reviews make me smile!**

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	27. Paler Than Normal

The next day I woke up early to get work done. Tanya and I had decided to meet in the gym for some one on one training time, she was really good at almost everything and she offered to teach me. Alice said she'd come with me if she was done her work. Since our little match against the boys, she'd become a really big soccer fan. When the alarm on my cell phone went off, I unwillingly got out of Edward's warm embrace and went to the bathroom in his room (where we'd slept that night) for the normal morning routine of brushing my teeth, washing my face and fixing my hair. He was still asleep when I came out.

I went over and kissed his forehead gently. He stirred and opened his beautiful green eyes.

"Bella," he smiled as he said my name.

"I'm sorry to wake you, you just looked so cute when you were sleeping." I smiled and leaned in to place another soft kiss on his cheek. He reached out his arms, beckoning me to join him in bed. "Oh I wish I could," my voice was full of longing for his embrace but I knew that if I gave in now I'd never get any work done. "But I have so much work to get done."

He pouted, looking so irresistible.

"Edward," I whined, "Don't give me that look." He was breaking my heart.

All of the sudden, he jumped up and to the floor, picked me up and placed swiftly me on the bed. He then lay down next to me with a triumphant smile on his lips.

"Edward that is so unfair." But I couldn't help giggling. "Fine then, but just ten more minutes."

"Mmhmm" was all he said as he pulled me into him and covered us with his fluffy comforter.

I looked up at him, noticing something different. "Are you feeling ok?" I asked, noticing that he was a little paler than normal.

"Yep," he nodded. His eyes were closed again and he hugged me, breathing in contentedly. But I noticed that he was a little warmer than normal. "I think you might be catching something." I felt his forehead with my hand. "You have a bit of a fever."

He shrugged.

I rolled my eys at his lack of concern, "Edward, promise me you'll take it easy today? No snowball fights with Emmett or anyone else today?" Since it had stopped snowing intensely, Edward and his brother participated in an almost daily snowball fight with the massive amount of snow still on the ground.

"Okay," He murmured sleepily against my neck before placing a soft kiss my collar bone.

"And drink fluids." I fought to keep my mind focused at his kisses, "Orange juice preferably. I'll bring some up to you later."

He shook his head, "No need, I have some here. I'll be fine."

I kissed his cheek. "Okay, Edward, I really have to get up. I have a lot of work to do."

Edward sighed in defeat. "Fine. I should get up too. I have a lab to study for." We both got out of bed and he gave me a final a hug. "I'll see you later then?"

"You bet," I said going up on my tip toes to give him a swift peck on the lips. "See you later."

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When I got back down to my room, I checked my email and found that my father had sent me something. 

It was flight details for my trip to Forks next month.

I didn't want to think about it. I didn't even open it. But it brought back the memory of the conversation I'd had with him yesterday and the melancholy obligation I was required to fulfill.

Immediately, I turned to do some work, trying to force the thoughts out of my mind. I'd become really good at burying the depressing memories for so long, but the idea of the memorial service made them resurface. I wasn't giving in, though. I would force them back down.

Alice had gotten up when I'd come back from Edward's room and we both worked silently on our school work for a few hours. By the early afternoon, I simply could not look at my computer screen any longer. "Enough of this," I said, stretching.

Alice nodded as she too closed her text book and rubbed her eyes. I called Tanya and made arrangements to meet her in the gym, then Alice and I changed and left to meet her.

We had fun practicing but my heart really wasn't in it. I worked on some of my moves while Tanya showed Alice some easier stuff. Then she and I trained a little more, she helped me with my bicycle kick for a while, being patient with me while I frustratedly couldn't get it right. "You're forcing it too much, relax, Bella," she repeated to me over and over again as she repeatedly watched me fail ro point my right foot towards the goal and fall to the ground. Finally, after my back couldn't take anymore rough falls, we decided to pack it in for the day. "Don't worry, Bella," Tanya assured me, "you'll get the hang of it soon."

I didn't know what was wrong with me. I was angry and frustrated at myself for not being able to get it right. Usually soccer was an outlet for any negative feelings, but it seemed like my head was just getting in the way. By the time we got back to the dorms, I was beyond exhausted.

Alice, somehow still had all her energy. She showered first and ushered me in after she was done. I spent a long time under the hot water, trying to ease relax my sore muscles. After I was done, I put on my most comfortable sweats and towel dried my hair, leaving it down. I went back out into the room and reluctantly cuddled on my bed with a text book.

"Bella?" Alice asked.

"Hmm?"

She came over and put an arm around me, "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, " Nothing, why?"

She looked at me with her head cocked to the side and an expression that told me she knew I wasn't being completely honest with her. "Come on, Bella, something's been up with you all day. I know you're normally quiet but this is more than that… We both know something is bothering you. Spill."

I couldn't meet her eyes, "It's really nothing Alice."

She paused for a second, "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. I just really hope it doesn't have anything to do with Mike and Lauren last night."

"Oh," I'd almost forgotten about that. I looked down at my right hand, which had tiny healing bruises on the knuckles, and a small triumphant smile came to my lips, "it doesn't have anything to do with that."

She smiled. "That punch was incredible. I didn't think you had it in you!" I laughed at that. "But seriously, Bella, if you need to talk…" she didn't finish her sentence. But then, she didn't need to.

I sighed, accepting the fact that she deserved to at least know what was on my mind. I didn't have to go into all the details. I could still come clean to Alice without bringing up painful memories, right? "It's just…" I trailed off. I took a deep breath and started again, "My father called yesterday. I have to go back to Forks in March."

Alice looked curious, "For how long?"

"Just for a day or two. It's the…" Pause. "It's the tenth anniversary of my mom's death then. They're having a memorial service." I said this with a shrug, trying to show her that it really wasn't that big of a deal.

But Alice's eyebrows shot up and she hugged me anyway, offering her support. "Bella… I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. _I'm_ fine. Really," I couldn't tell you if that last statement was true or not, but one way or another, I wanted her to believe it was. In any case, I'd make it true. "But my dad is making me go. He's already sent me my flight details."

She looked at me in confusion, "Don't you want to go?"

I shook my head. "No way. Dealing with it once was enough." she nodded, signaling that she understood, and then waited patiently for me to elaborate. "It's just not something I want to do. But I have to, for my dad."

"Is he not over it?"

I considered that for a minute before forming a response, "No, he is. He's dealt with it really well, considering. I mean, he was never the same afterwards, but he dealt with it as best he could." I paused again, "He thinks I need to do the same… that I should… move on" I added. It felt strange to open up to someone about it. Not great, but freeing almost. Despite that, I could feel the panic beginning to surface as the ghost of my memories drew near.

"Bella…" she hesitated, "_Why_ would your dad think you haven't moved on? I mean, its been such a long time and you're in college now."

I let my mane of thick hair fall, shielding my face from Alice's view.

"Bella…?"

Panic then struck … and I suddenly needed to change the subject. "So do you want to do dinner?"

Alice was silent for a moment, but she understood immediately. "Actually, I already ordered pizza. Is that cool?" She didn't give me a chance to respond as she hopped off my bed energetically and buzzed around the room, "I got half pineapple because I needed something kind of sweet, but I'm _so_ not in the mood for any actual desert. Last weekend we spent days just lying around, I don't think I can afford to keep eating junk."

That's one of the things I love about Alice; she can make anyone forget their troubles in an instant. "Alice, you don't have an ounce of fat on your body, you can afford to eat anything you like."

"Nuh uh!" she looked at me like I was insane, "I was reading an article the other day that said that after a certain age it becomes nearly impossible to remove fat from your body. You have to work three times as hard."

"But, Alice, you're 18!"

"Exactly! If I keep it off, there'll be nothing to have to try to remove later."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Let me get this straight, you want to be healthy so you won't eat desert, but instead you ordered a fatty pizza?"

"Yep."

I shook my head. "Alice, you are definitely a mystery sometimes."

"Thank You."

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**Thanks so much to edwardluver925 for her expert help on the technical soccer stuff, I'm really a dunce when it comes to that. :) I bow down to her soccer genius! Thank you guys for reading!**


	28. Taking Care of Edward

Later, I went upstairs to see Edward. I knocked on the door but no one answered so I let myself in.

"Edward?" I called as I entered carefully. The beds on opposite side of the room were both empty and unmade, but as I looked around, I spotted Edward's sleeping figure slumped over asleep on his desk.

I walked over to him quietly and saw that his angelic head was resting on top of a text book; he'd obviously fallen asleep while reading. But as I moved closer, I noticed that he looked paler than he did early this morning. Gently, I put my hand on his shoulder, bending down so that I was eye level with him. I placed a soft kiss on his forehead, immediately noticing how clammy was. "Edward?" I whispered gently to wake him up.

He opened his eyes slowly, blinked a few times and then seemed to realize where he was. "Bella?" He lifted his head, wincing, only slightly so that I wouldn't notice, but I caught it immediately.

"Edward, are you okay?" I couldn't help how anxious I sounded.

He nodded simply, "I fell asleep while studying. Organic chemistry isn't exactly the most exciting subject," he smiled at his own joke but I was too preoccupied to really laugh.

"Edward, you're sick," I placed my hand on his neck to feel his temperature.

He smiled and took my hand from his neck gently, kissing the back of it, "Bella, I'm fine. I'm just a little tired."

"You have a fever!" I protested.

"It's probably just a small cold. It'll go away before you know it." He insisted as if it were no big deal.

"Whatever." I got up, rolling my eyes, "Small cold or no, you have to stay in bed for a while. Do you have any medication here?" I said, making my way to his bathroom to check. "I think Alice might have some downstairs but if not I think I'll run to the pharmacy anyway. You're going ot need lots of fluids… and soup…" I came back out into the room, still speaking rapidly and making a mental list of what he might need in my head.

"Bella, stop." He got out of his desk chair and put his arms around me. I noticed his voice was a little raspy, "I'm really fine."

"Sure you are."

"And I have a lot of studying to do, I can't afford to get sick now."

"Edward, health comes first."

He smirked, "I know, that's why I'm studying to be a doctor."

I rolled my eyes, "Ha Ha. Very funny. No more excuses, it's off to bed with you." I gently shoved him towards his bed. He sighed in defeat and complied. "Now tell me what you're feeling," He opened his mouth to protest one more time but I cut him off before he had the chance, "Edward Anthony Cullen, do _not_ lie and tell me you're fine. We both know that isn't the case."

He groaned, "My head is killing me and my throat is starting to hurt. I'm feeling a little weaker than normal and I'm constantly alternating between hot and cold." He admitted in a monotone voice.

"Finally, the truth!" I joked. He tried not to smile but he couldn't hold one back. "You are to stay in bed. No excuses." I moved a few uneccessary things from his bed side table, practically clearing it. I brought over his text books and notebooks and placed them in a neat pile. Then I went to his mini fridge and pulled out an almost empty carton of orange juice, poured the remains in a glass and placed it next to him along with a box of tissues and his cell phone. "I'm going to see what we have downstairs in the way of medicine and then I'm going to the pharmacy and the supermarket to get some stuff for you."

"Bella-" he began to protest but I cut him off again.

"Edward will you relax! How are you ever supposed to get better if you don't acknowledge that you're sick first?"

"I don't want you going through all this trouble for me. Besides the roads are kind of icy. You could get hurt."

I shook my head, "That's a poor excuse. But if it will make you feel better, I'll have my cell phone on me and I'll call you when I get to the drug store."

He contemplated that for a second. "Fine."

"Good." I smiled, "Anything specific you want me to get?"

"Tylenol cold?"

I nodded, "Anything else?"

"No, that's it."

"Sure?"

"Yes."

"Ok then," I kissed his forehead, secured his comforter around him and made my way out the door. "I'll see you in a little bit."

--

* * *

Two hours later, Alice and I walked into Edward's room carrying bags of stuff. Edward was looking very pale still and was lying on his side looking extremely sick.

"Edward?" I dropped my bags and made my way over to him as soon as I saw him, "How are you feeling?"

He reached out and put his arms around me as best he could in the position he was in. "I've been better."

Alice came over and felt his forehead, "Yikes!" she said removing her hand from his skin, "You're not looking so great, Edward."

"Thanks." He murmured sarcastically. I chuckled a little.

Alice made her way into one of the bags to fetch the thermometer we'd purchased, then unwrapped it and came back over to him. "100.7" She said once she'd taken his temperature.

Edward groaned. He looked over at the bags we'd brought in with a curious look. "How much stuff did you guys get?"

"Just the necessities," Alice said innocently.

"I doubt that," he replied. He knew his sister too well. But to be honest, it was mostly me that went overboard this time, although Alice didn't stop me.

"It was my fault," I admitted, "But I wanted to make sure we had everything we needed."

"Alice, you've been a bad influence on her," he joked.

Alice laughed, "Yes, I'm actually quite proud," she put her hand on her chest and stared at me with mock admiration. Edward and I laughed. "Okay kiddies, I must be off." She bounced towards her brother and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "feel better, Edward."

"Thanks Alice." He called out to her before she danced her way out the door, shutting it gently behind her. He turned to me, "So was there anything left at the drugstore, or did you clean them out?"

I grinned, "Very funny." I made my way over to the bags and started taking out different medicines. "I told the pharmacist about your symptoms and he suggested a few things that might work. He also said that the flu has been going around campus and that might take longer to recover from, so I got stuff for that also just in case."

I grabbed a bottle of Tylenol Cold PM and opened it, pulling out two tablets. I poured some water into a cup and gave it to him. "Take these. They'll make you sleep and help with your symptoms all at the same time."

He didn't protest and took the tablets.

"Are you hungry?" I asked.

He shook his head slightly as he rested it on his pillow, "I don't think I could hold anything down right now." He admitted.

I nodded and began putting the rest of my purchases away.

"Bella?" He asked as he was watching me.

"Yes?"

"Why on earth did you get sheets?" He gestured towards the one of the things I'd just taken out of the bags.

"Well, in case you didn't have another set. Alice insisted on getting them since you might sweat your fever out all over the sheets you have now. We didn't know if you had clean ones so we got these just in case." I felt myself blush, "I know I went a little overboard, but I'm worried about you, okay?" I admitted sheeepishly, "I just want you to get better."

He smiled my favorite crooked smile, "Isabella Swan, you are the sweetest girl I've ever met. I'd love nothing more than to kiss you right now if I weren't worried I'd get you sick also."

My face, I was sure, turned a brilliant shade of red. He chuckled at my blush. "So tell me what else you got."

Happy to have an excuse to hide my tinted face, I turned back to the bags, "You're going to love these sheets, they're super soft jersey material!" I exclaimed excitedly.

He laughed, "You're starting to sound like Alice."

Ignoring his comment, I continued to pull out items. "Food supplies, obviously," I pulled out the cans and bottles of juices and water and put them away. "Socks."

"Socks?"

"To keep your feet warm," I said as though it were obvious. "It was Alice's idea, but I agreed with her."

He chuckled, "You do realize I have socks?"

"Once again, we didn't know when the last time you'd done laundry was." I argued, holding back a laugh at the look of amusement on his pale face, "You wouldn't want to have to wear dirty socks, would you?"

"Okay, besides the pharmacy and the supermarket, where did you guys go?"

"Target."

"Oh no," he laughed, "Bella, you know better than to let Alice loose inside a target. She goes crazy around all that stuff! I'm surprised you didn't come back with a few appliances of some sort."

I felt my face twinge red…

"Bella, you didn't!"

I grinned sheepishly and turned to another bag, pulling out a square box. "It's an electronic tea kettle."

Edward laughed hard at that, putting his hand to his head at the pain, but not being able to stop.

"Stop laughing, you're hurting yourself!" I protested, not being able to hold back my own laughter anymore. "And you'll be needing this for tea and such, so I couldn't say no to her."

Wincing, he lay his head back on his pillow. "Okay, show me the rest."

I giggled, putting the tea kettle box down. "Extra tissues … a hot water bottle ...," I listed the items out loud as I took them out of the box, "new pajamas … vapor rub … cough drops …" I continued steadily for a few minutes, pausing every once in a while to show him something cool, like his new shower curtain and bathroom rugs, to which he'd just laugh and shake his head.

"Wow." Was all he said once I was done putting everything away. "Thank you, although, Bella, I'm sure none of this is actually necessary."

I shrugged, "you'll use all of it, I'm sure."

"The lap desk?" He insisted.

"Yes, you're not getting out of bed until you're better. This way you can do some work while you heal." I pointed out, making my way over to him.

He looked lovingly up at me and pouted, "Bella…" He whined slightly, "I want to hold you more than anything right now. I wish I could without the risk of you catching something."

I smiled at his comment, "Thank you." I said as I stood over him, "But don't worry, Coach Graysly made us all take flu shots as soon as we'd gotten on the team. She doesn't want her players getting sick. And I've been taking precautions." I bent over him and kissed his forhead sweetly before resting my head on his chest with my arms around him.

He, in turn, put his arms gently on my back and began rubbing it softly. "Thank you for all you've done. What did I do to deserve you?" He kissed my forehead.

"I ask myself the same about you every day." I whispered as I hugged him tighter.

--

* * *

I waited until Edward's medication set in and he fell asleep before returning to my room to do work. Alice was gone but there was something else that caught my eye; a familiar parchment envelope.

_Yes!_

Excitedly, I pulled out the letter inside and read;

-

_Dear Isabella,_

_This time of year the days are not long; twilight comes quick and the sun lingers only a short while, leaving us in a temporarily elongated darkness. This is a very direct comparison to the situation facing you on your next task. What happens when one can no longer see the right path, but is forced to rely on her own nature for a hint on which way to go forth?_

_Your instinctive nature, Isabella, will be the subject in question. The subsequent mission will be to find yet another item, also small in size, yet valuable on a blind search for direction. Usefull, will it be, on your future journeys with us._

_And while you sit and wonder of what this might be, also ponder upon this:_

_Have you the determination to simply take what you wish without question?_

_Farewell for now, Isabella. Rest easy these days, until the time comes again when we call upon you with further instructions as to your next distinguishing test._

_Sincerely yours,_

_-Ť£-_

_- _

I read it over once more, picking out the clues to the next hidden puzzle. Once again, they left me utterly confused yet very eager. A small object? It can't be another key, so then what? And my instinctive nature? Do they mean my survival skills?

_Oh crap_, I thought with a sudden fear going through me. They're not going to make me survive in the woods or something are they? Because my survival instincts are pretty much non-existant.

But if that's what it is then what was with the question? _Have you the determination to simply take what you wish without question?_ Take what? From whom?

I could tell that this clue would take me a while to figure out. Thank goodness they were giving me time, because my school work could not wait.

--

* * *

**Hey, guess what! I love you guys! Thanks for all the amazing reviews and good finals wishes. Only a few more days and then vacation! I know these last two chapters don't have much going on, but upcoming chapters are going to be kind of the opposite and I needed to set up for that. I hope these two didn't disappoint. **

**And one more thing… can anyone figure out what the next Twilight League mission will be from the clues in the letter?**


	29. Pressure

**I sincerely dislike finals. But I love all of you! Hope your week is not as hectic as mine. However, I did use inspiration from my daily life in this chapter. Hope you enjoy it.**

**By the way, I still don't own Twilight. Thanks**

* * *

"Bella…"

"… Bella…"

"Bella…" There was a far off voice calling my name gently… but I couldn't place it … it sounded so far away… "Bella…" I was moving… someone was shaking me. Why, though?

"Forget it, Emmett," I heard another voice saying. Rosalie? I thought groggily. I had no what was going on but I was too exhausted to care. _I must be asleep_, I thought. But I wasn't in bed, I realized. The side of my face was leaning sideways on something hard. "I don't think she's slept in two days. Just let her rest for a few more minutes."

Their voices sounded so far away. I heard Emmett answered, "Okay, but I'm moving her to my bed, she shouldn't be slumped over the desk like that."

"Good idea," Rose's voice responded.

The second I felt myself being lifted off the desk, my eyes snapped open. "Oh my gosh!" I awoke with a start. _I can't believe I fell asleep!_ I scolded myself mentally. "What's going on?! Where's Edward?!" My mouth blurted out questions before my mind even had time to process them. Once it did I remembered everything.

It'd been two days since Edward first got sick, since then he's only gotten worse. He was constantly clammy and in a cold sweat, he could hardly talk anymore and he could barely sleep, but it didn't help that he insisted on keeping up with his school work. Emmett and I had to practically force the drowsy medication down his throat last night. I'd spent the past couple of days riddled with worry, which only intensified this morning when I'd gotten back from yet another intense soccer practice and found that his temperature had gotten to a whopping 102 degrees. I had already been spending all my non-class/practice time in Edward and Emmett's room, keeping an eye on Edward and doing my own massive work in his room.

"Relax, Bells," Emmett insisted, as he picked me up easily and carried me over to his bed, "He's knocked out again. You need sleep too."

"Emmett!" I struggled against him in a whisper, trying not to wake Edward, "I don't have time to sleep now I have work to finish!" Man, falling asleep had thrown off my whole schedule. In between taking care of Edward I had successfully arranged my time to fit in everything I needed to get done both for myself and for him. Unfortunately, sleeping time was pretty much non-existent.

"Bella, you won't be able to get anything done if you don't get some rest." Rosalie pointed out.

"Yea, Bella, I have work to do too, so I'll watch Edward and you sleep. Deal?" Emmett asked.

I sighed, "Okay, you stay and look out for Edward, but I have to start on my model for class." I internally groaned at the idea. Among other things, I had to build a model of the building we were doing in one of my architecture classes to reflect the ways in which we designed it. After they'd gone to get Edward's assignments from his professors, explaining his situation to them, Emmett and Rosalie had gone to the art supply store for me while I was in class to get me my supplies. I guess they felt bad that I had so much more on my plate than anyone else right about now.

"Bella, you have soccer practice in the morning," Rosalie insisted, "It's 10 at night now. Try to be in bed by 1, okay?"

Something she said made my eyes go really wide. "10?... 10?!..." I scrambled for the clock on my cell phone to see if she was right. "Holy crap! How long was I asleep?!"

"Couldn't have been long, maybe just an hour…?"

I jumped out of bed and grabbed my messenger bag and the bag of supplies they'd gotten me, "Thanks so much for the supplies, guys. I have to get to work. Will you call me if he wakes up?" I dug through my bag for my wallet and took out a wad of cash to give to Emmett.

Emmett looked at me like I was insane. "Bella, don't be ridiculous." He ruffled my hair, "You're so silly sometimes. But promise me that you'll relax a little. And try to get some rest."

I couldn't help but laugh a little, "Thanks Emmett, I will relax as soon as my paper is done, my presentation is over and Edward is better." He rolled his eyes. Smiling, I made my way over to Edward's sleeping form and kissed him gently on the forehead, "Sweet Dreams," I whispered to him before I turned, bid goodbye to Rosalie and Emmett and made my way out of the room.

--

* * *

Seven hours later, I was still awake in my room. Alice had spent the night at Jasper's leaving me alone to get my work done. It had been a pretty successful night. I had started on the model for my presentation next week (It was to be a miniature representation of a schoolhouse each person in my class had to design). The outside walls made out of pieces of bass wood, at least, had been correctly places with cut outs for the windows and miniature doors attached. That had taken me a while. Then I'd moved on to finishing the rough draft of a paper I had due in a few days, and afterwards I'd begun to study for two upcoming tests. Needless to say, I was a little overwhelmed.

But it wasn't just school work that had me feeling that way. Soccer practices had taken a bad turn. Maybe it was just that I was constantly tired these days, but the coach had been working us to the bone in preparation for our first game in a little over a week.

Then there was the added bonus of my upcoming trip home. Renee's memorial service loomed over me like heavy storm clouds waiting to unleash their harsh hail and lightning on only me. I fought hard never to think about it. With my busy schedule I always had something to distract me from its misery.

But none of these things compared to how anxious I was over Edward's condition. At times, he would cough endlessly and violently while his fever would always go up and down. He would insist that he was fine and refused to go to the hospital. Just thinking about it was bothering me.

Noticing that it was 5 AM, I went to the bathroom and quickly washed my face and brushed my teeth before going back into my room to change into my soccer practice clothes. I pulled my hair into a ponytail, picked up my coat and bag and headed out the door.

As usual, I headed upstairs first to check on Edward. When I walked into their room, I notice Emmett asleep on his bed and the light on Edward's bed side table was on. Edward himself was sitting up in his bed with a notebook in his hand and a text book right under it, studying.

"Good morning," he whispered in a very raspy voice.

Relieved as I was to see that he was awake, his sickly looking face pierced my heart. I quickly made my way over to him, sat on the edge of his bed and put my arms around his neck… he felt cold.

I kissed his cheek before pulling away from him. He smiled at me. "Good morning," I said to him, analyzing his face to see how he was really feeling; Edward had an annoying tendency to shield the true nature of his illness away from me, thinking I would worry too much. Like I didn't have every right to worry. "How are you feeling?"

He cleared his throat, but winced immediately, "fine."

I rolled my eyes at him and responded sarcastically, "Sure."

He gently brought his hands away from my waist where they were resting and up to my own hands, pulling them away from his neck, "Bella, you have to protect yourself. I don't want you catching this." He reached over next to his lamp and held out a small bottle of anti-bacterial liquid. "Here."

"In a second," I said, getting up and going to grab the thermometer I had put away yesterday. "Open wide," I mocked, coming back with it.

He sighed, not being able to successfully hide a smile, though. He took the thermometer from me and placed it in his mouth. After 30 seconds it beeped. I took it anxiously.

"101!" I sighed with worry.

He grinned innocently, "That's lower than yesterday…"

I frowned and crossed my arms, biting my lip. "Maybe you should go to the hospital Edward…" I said after a second, "This is day three of this insanity."

Edward simply moved his books to the other side of his bed and reached out for me. With my arms still crossed across my chest and my eyebrows furrowed in concern, I sat on the edge of his bed again as he took me into his arms. I leaned in to rest my head on his chest. "Bella, you have to relax. It's just the flu! Everyone gets it sometime. And it's been going around lately. It'll pass but you have to give it time."

I knew that what he was saying was true, that he would be fine eventually. But I couldn't help being worried about him. I wanted him to get better more than anything. I hated seeing him like this.

"How are _you_?" I heard him ask me in a low voice, making sure not to wake his brother.

I shrugged, still wrapped up in his embrace. "Fine."

"Are you sure?" He rested his chin on the top of my head, "You haven't seemed fine in a few days."

"I'm just worried about you."

"You don't have to be. And I know that isn't the only thing on your mind."

I shrugged again.

"Did you get your work done?"

"A reasonable amount." I answered truthfully.

"And things with your dad…" he trailed off.

I sighed, not wanting to answer.

"You don' have to tell me if you don't want to." But I could tell he slightly disappointed, although he tried not to express it.

I wondered if Alice had told him what I'd told her. I decided to just ask. "Did Alice tell you about that?"

"No? Why? Is there something to tell?"

I hesitated. With everything that he has going on, he doesn't need to hear about my problems as well.

He seemed to read my thoughts. "Please Bella? I worry about you too, you know. Please tell me?"

I knew resistance to his adorable pleas was a lost cause. Even when he was sick in bed with a high fever, he could still dazzle me. Its official; he's incredible.

"I have to go to Forks in a couple of weeks. Just for a day or so, my dad wants me to."

He remained silent, waiting for me to continue. When I didn't, he spoke, "Any specific reason or just quality father-daughter time?"

I felt the ghost of the cloud hanging over be again, threatening to burst, "There's going to be a memorial service for my mother. The ten year mark of her death is coming up. He wants me to be there for that." I spoke as void of emotion as I could, as though I were delivering a speech I'd memorized, not wanting to deviate too much and unleash any sad memories.

Edward's hold tightened on me. He placed a few soft kisses on the top of my head.

Before he could say anything, I spoke, "Please don't worry about it. I'm just going for my dad. And I really don't want to think about it now … is that okay?"

"Of course, Bella." I felt him nod. "Anything you need."

"Okay… now let's talk about what you need," I reluctantly pulled away from him. "Rest. Don't study too hard, okay? Did you take your medicine?"

He smiled crookedly at me. Even in his ailment, he was still beautiful. "Yes, I did." He grabbed the anti-bacterial liquid bottle again, flipped the cap open and placed a generous amount on my hands. "And after you're done cleaning your hands, there's orange juice in the mini fridge."

I rubbed the liquid on my hands and went to the fridge and poured him a glass. But when I held it out to him he protested. "Not for me, silly, for you!"

"Why?"

He rolled his eyes at me, "Are you kidding? You've been surrounded by my germs, plus you haven't been sleeping. Your body might be too tired to fight them off. Flu shot or no, I'm not taking any chances with you. Vitamin C will help. Now drink." He ordered.

_Whatever makes him happy_, I thought as I drained the cup.

"Good," he smiled happily, bringing a little color back into his cheeks. "Have fun at practice."

"Thanks," I gave him a smile before making my way out of the room, "I'll see you later."

--

* * *

Practice had been hard, of course, but I hadn't done badly. I'd gotten a second wind as soon as it had begun and I had kept up with everything we'd been doing, taking out my frustrations on the field. I hope, though, that my current problems weren't affecting my game.

I was slightly comforted to see that I wasn't the only one who was tired. The coaches were hollering at us all more than normal, trying to get our bodies to move the way they wanted them to. At the end of practice they sat us down. I waited for the tyrannical lecture but it didn't come. Instead Coach Graysly read from the notes on the clipboard she'd been scribbling frantically on all throughout the session, giving us each things to work on individually. Before dismissing us, she cancelled practices for the next three days, telling us to rest our bodies. I was ecstatic! I could probably get some sleep now.

Between classes, I checked in on Edward, only to find him wide awake each time, studying. He claimed he couldn't sleep no matter how much medication he took.

He didn't seem to be getting any better, though.

Alice and Jasper came up to hang out with him while I went back downstairs to finish do some more school work later that day. I wasn't working long when Alice came back into the room.

"How is he?" was the first thing out of my mouth.

Alice looked worried too, "He has a persistent fever. And he's so freaking stubborn! He won't go to the hospital!"

I bit my lip nervously and began anxiously tapping my pencil against my notebook. Alice, noticing my distressed state came over and gave me a hug. "How are_ you_ holding up? I hardly see you anymore! You're either at class, at practice or in Edward's room."

I smiled and hugged her back. "I'm okay."

She pulled back and looked at my face, searching for something. "No you're not." She said finally.

I sighed, "I'm just worried."

She nodded understandingly and then was silent for a moment, thinking hard about something. I could see that she also was worried about her brother.

Suddenly her eyes were set with determination and she walked over to pick up her cell phone.

"What are you doing?"

"If the mountain won't come to Mohammed…" she began punching numbers as I watched her in confusion. After a minute she talked into the phone, "Hey, Dad? It's me. Listen there's something I need to tell you…"

**--**

* * *

**Alice is breaking out the big guns!**


	30. Clues, Flashbacks and Words

The next day, after I had finished my classes, I immediately came to Edward's room. He was up when I'd come in, at which point we'd both began to study together, him in his bed and me on the window seat in his room. After a couple of hours he'd fallen asleep.

When Alice had gotten off the phone last night, she explained to me that her father, the doctor, had decided to take a flight into town early today to check on Edward for himself. I was relieved when I heard this; at least Edward would be seen by a real doctor now. The thought had comforted me enough that I was even able to get in a few good hours of sleep last night.

I was curled up in the window seat, studying my upcoming Architecture Studio 102 class when I heard the door open. In came Alice and Emmett followed by a very handsome older blond man.

"Bella!" She called me over quietly, so that she wouldn't wake Edward, "This is my dad. Dad this is my roommate Bella!" She excitedly introduced us.

I immediately put my books down and went over with my arm outstrecthed, "Hello, Dr. Cullen." I shook his hand.

He smiled back at me, "Hello, Bella. It's nice to finally meet you. Please call me Carlisle. I've heard quite a lot about you from my children."

I blushed a little and smile, "Uh oh," I joked, looking at Emmett.

Carlisle chuckled softly, "Don't worry, I take everything Emmett says with a grain of salt, so to speak."

"Hey!" Emmett protested.

"Just kidding," his father said to him, his blue eyes twinkling. I noticed how similar they looked when they laughed.

Soon Carlisle turned to his younger son's sleeping form, bringing his medicine bag with him and taking out his stethascope. I watched anxiously as he examined Edward carefully, my arm linked with Alice's who was also looking worried. Emmett stepped behind us and protectively put his arms around both of us.

Edward stirred at the movements. His eyes opened slowly and focused slightly on the man examining him, "Dad?" His usually silky voice came out hoarse and groggy.

Carlisle smiled down at his son, holding his hand tightly, "Hello Edward."

Edward looked a little confused, "What's going on?" He turned and looked at us and then back at his father.

"Edward, why didn't you tell us you were this bad? Your mother and I spoke to you just the other night and you said it wasn't anything major?" Carlisle asked gently as he continued to examine him.

I looked upon Carlisle's face and realized how worried he'd been about his son also. Suddenly I felt like I was intruding on their family time. The Cullen's were a close family… I felt awkward interrupting.

"Um," I spoke suddenly, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to give you guys some privacy," I said, looking at Alice and Emmett before I turned to Edward, "I'll see you later."

"Bella-" Edward began but his father shushed him.

"Edward, don't talk, your throat is swollen pretty badly." Carlisly ordered before turning to me, "Bella you are more than welcome to stay. Please do not leave on my account."

I felt a little comforted at his tone, but I figured I should go downstairs and shower and stuff while they wer here to watch him. "Thank you. I'll come back up soon though."

He nodded. Alice let go of my arm and I went downstairs. The idea of Edward getting a realy examination greatly relieved me. It lifted a burden off my shoulders. For the first time in a while I took a long hot shower, relishing the hot water once again. These days I'd gotten used to quick 5 minute showers that didn't ease my stress level at all. This was much better. I took my time shampooing my hair and using my favorite grapefruit scented body wash. When I got out, I calmly towel dried my hair, and went to my wardrobe, picking out a simple outfit of comfy jeans, a super comfy grey Meyer University sweatshirt over a green t-shirt and a pair of Ugg boots.

I decided on giving the Cullens a little privacy while I worked out the last Twilight League letter. I'd been itching to sit down and try to figure it out for the past few days but I simply had not had the time.

I went into the middle drawer on my bed side table and pulled out the rectangular midnight blue box. It was the box they had given me the first time I met them, containing the scrapbook with my grandmother's and great-grandfather's induction pictures. I had been storing all of their letters in it as well as the blindfold and the smaller box with the key. I kept it all hidden underneath a few layers of old folded shirts I hardly ever use and Alice would never let me be seen in. I reached into the box and pulled out the last letter, then went to my desk, pulled out a notepad and pen and began rereading it.

The letter stated that I would have to find another small item. What could it be?

'… _a blind search for direction...'_ It also mentioned something about darkness. Could it be a flashlight? Or a torch of some kind?

No, it couldn't be._'What happens when we can no longer see the right path, but are forced to rely on instincts for a hint towards the right direction…'_ With this statement they clearly declared that the path wouldn't be visible, not that I'd need a way to make it visible. I'd need to rely on my instincts for directions.

I frowned. _Instincts_. My instinctive nature.

Great.

My natural instincts usually left me injured in one way or another. I reread the letter again, desperately grasping at straws.

Wait a minute… I scanned the paper once more, seeing one word pop out at me twice._Direction._

'… _one other item to find, also small, yet valuable on a blind search for direction… Useful will it be on your journey with us…' _

A compass! I'd have to find a compass! I felt a thrill at figuring it out at last.

But as I read the last question on the page, my thrill turned into anxiety.

'_Have you the determination to simply take what you wish without question?'_ What on earth did that mean? Was it something I wasn't supposed to have? Would I have to steal it?

I sat back in my desk chair and thought about that option for a moment. What would happen if they did ask me to steal something? Would I be willing? Would I do something I knew was wrong to get into this secret society?

My grandmother had been in this. My family, their legacy, everything I'd been searching for to somehow connect me to the mother I'd lost so many years ago was within my grasp. But would I do something I knew wasn't right to get in?

--

Edward was sitting up in bed and laughing along with his father and Emmett when I'd come back upstairs. Rosalie and Jasper had come by and were seated on the window seat. Alice was positioned in front of Jasper, leaning back against him.

"Hey." I said as I peaked my head through the door.

"Bella, come in!" Alice called as soon as she saw me.

I made my way in the room, greeting every one before reaching Edward. He smiled up at me as I reached his side. I turned to Carlisle, "So whats the verdict?" I asked him, my nerves building up in the pit of my stomach.

Carlisle smiled, instantly calming me, "He's going to be fine. It's the flu and from what I can tell it should pass in a couple of days." He turned to his sick son and ruffled his hair playfully, "But not if you don't _sleep_."

Edward simply nodded, having been ordered not to speak. He held out his arms for me, inviting me into them. I blushed but complied, having spent way too long out of his embrace. I missed it.

--

* * *

"Edward just close your eyes and try not to think. You'll fall asleep in minutes." I assured him for the millionth time that night. 

It was later that night and Carlisle had already gone back to the airport, but not before ordering a huge dinner for us all which we all ate in Edward's room (Edward had only soup). Soon everyone had left, leaving only Edward and I alone in the room. Although he had been ordered to sleep by his father, he had remained unable to do so for a few hours now.

"Maybe it would be easier if you were here with me instead of all the way over there," he pointed out. I rolled my eyes but couldn't stop a small smile escaping from my lips as I made my way over to him from my previous position on his desk chair.

He scooted over so I could sit in his bed with him. "Fine," I said, "Here, rest your head on my lap. And keep your eyes closed." I sat up in bed and he scooted down, resting his head on my lap.

"This _is_ quite comfortable." He admitted with a yawn.

I chuckled, "No talking. Sleep now. No excuses." I bent my head down and kissed his hair. Then I let my fingers lightly massage his scalp as he rested, willing him to drift into unconsciousness. After half an hour, I felt his breathing steady. I relaxed a little, knowing that at last he was getting better. His color was loads better now than it had been in the last few days and his fever was almost gone. Carlisle assured me that he would be fine soon, and that fact made me more relaxed than I'd been in days. Nothing seemed quite as bad now I knew he would be alright.

I waited until I was sure that he was fast asleep before attempting to move. But the moment I did, he shifted and murmured some incomprehensible noise. Not wanting to wake him for any reason whatsoever, I stayed in my upright position on his bed with my legs out straight in front of me and his head on my lap. I could deal with this if it meant he would be better soon.

Unfortunately, all my books were out of my reach and there was no one else in the room to hand them to me. I was left alone with my thoughts for the remainder of the night. And of course, my thoughts drifted back to the question in the Twilight League letter.

'…_And while you sit and wonder of what this might be, also ponder upon this: Have you the determination to simply take what you wish without question?...'_

Would I do whatever it took to get in? What if they asked me to do something unjust? I highly doubted that they would, considering their manners thus far. Something in my gut told me that they would never ask me to do anything unreasonably malicious or wicked.

But what if?

I felt myself waver back and forth with that question. With the cloud of Renee's memorial service hanging over me, I felt as though at any moment I could lose her again; for the second time.

For the first time in a little under ten years I began to think about the times I had with my mother right before she died. The accident. The image of the mangled car was burned in my memory forever. I hadn't been with her that night but I remembered driving to the junk yard and sneaking in to find something in the car. That's when I'd seen it. And that was the first time it'd hit me; I'd lost my mother.

A hole I had been neglecting in my heart cut deeper into me with the single flashback and tears stung in my eyes, threatening to leak onto my face. _No!_ I scolded myself, _You did not lose her. You will find her again. You will not forget her._ I repeated the words to myself over and over until the physical discomfort in my chest was gone.

_Right now, I think I would do pretty much anything to find her again,_ I thought to myself as I mentally shut away my memories. I knew that whatever they asked me to do, I'd probably do it.

Several hours later, the light form the window shone brightly into Edward's room. I was still awake, though barely. I hadn't moved an inch all night, but I wasn't complaining. Edward was still fast asleep with his head on my lap. I looked at his beautiful face, practically bursting with happiness at the slight color in his cheeks. He was well again. I ran my fingers softly through his soft bronze hair once more.

This time he stirred. His green eyes fluttered a few times before opening wide. He raised his head slightly, in confusion. I held back a laugh at his expression.

"Good morning sleepy." I said with a grin.

He turned his head to look at me. "Bella?"

"Hi," I replied brightly. He was still confused. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Better." He sat up and looked at me, "How long was I asleep?"

I smiled proudly, "All night."

"All night?"

"Yep. Is something wrong?"

He shook his head slightly, " Its just… were you up all night?"

I shrugged, "I didn't want to wake you."

"So you stayed sitting up all night?" He looked at me incredulously.

A yawn escaped my lips, "So?"

"Bella, I'm sorry, you should've woken me."

"No way! You needed sleep. It's okay, I don't mind. I'm just glad you're better." I looked at him with sincerety, "You are better, right?"

He smiled crookedly at me, "Much better." He then leaned in to kiss my cheek, "Thank you."

"No problem." Another yawn.

Edward chuckled and hopped off the bed, "Lay down. It's your turn to sleep."

I looked at his clock. It was still pretty early. I could probably get at least two hours in before I had to be up for class. "Okay," I replied.

He waited for me to move, but it didn't come, "Why are you still sitting there?"

My muscles were all completely stiff from being in the same position for so long, "I think I need some help."

He laughed and pulled me towards him, scooping me up and placing me on the bed. Once I was comfortable, he jumped in next to me. I kissed his cheek and closed my eyes.

"Bella?"

"Hmm?"

He didn't say anything right away. In fact I was half asleep by the time he did answer, "I love you."

At those words my eyes snapped open. I'd lost all feeling in my limbs. The only thing that I was aware of was my heart which was about to burst. I felt a smile play at my lips. I took in a breath, ready to say it back…

But the words didn't come.

I can't pinpoint exactly why the words were stuck. I wanted to say them. I wanted to tell him that I loved him right back. But there was a tiny feeling of panic in the back of my head which seemed to have control over my oral functions right about now.

The seconds ticked by and Edward looked at me. I expected him to get angry but instead he smiled. "Bella. I don't want you to feel like you have to say it back to me. I know how you feel about me. _Trust me_." What did that mean? He kissed the tip of my nose before pulling me into his warm embrace and burrying his face in my hair, inhaling deeply at my scent. "You can say it when you're ready. But I just had to tell you. I love you." He said once more.

"Edward… I-" I began, wanting to say _something_ at least. But he cut me off before I had a chance.

"Sshh my Bella. Sleep now. No excuses." He chuckled as he mimicked my words from the night before when I was trying to force him into some sleep. I giggled at his joke and soon drifted off to sleep.

--

* * *

**Okay, so I know all of you are probably like "What the hell?" but please trust me. You don't honestly think I'm going to do anything enduringly unpleasant to my favorite characters, do you:) **

**Also, you might find this funny. I am kind of an idiot sometimes. You know how the Twilight League always ends their letters in -Ť£- ? Well, I didn't realize that the £ was the same symbol for the British pound… I mean, _knew_, obviously what the pound sign was, but it just didn't **_**look**_** the same on my font in MS Word. Anyway, I was looking over my story on and I did a small double take. I feel like such an idiot! So to anyone who might have read that the wrong way, I apologize for the confusion, and no, the Twilight League doesn't feed into any kind of Western European financial group or anything. Sorry for the confusion. All future letters will be signed -ŤŁ- instead and I'll probably go back and fix the previous ones at some point. **

**But in the mean time, you can go ahead and laugh at my ignorance and stupidity. I laughed at myself for a few minutes when I realized how dumb that was. :)**


	31. Taking Down Bertha!

**Thanks for all the reviews! Sorry I didn't respond to all of them yet, but I will and I definitely appreciate the enthusiasm! Thank you so much:)**

**And a special thanks to edwardluver925 for her amazing soccer tips and help**

* * *

Somehow, I'd gotten through my week of hell with school work. My presentation went amazingly. I'd only fumbled twice throughout the whole thing which was an accomplishment for me. Public speaking usually doesn't agree with me… or my nausea.

Edward was back to normal now, thankfully, and things had calmed down pretty much after last week. This morning Alice and I had an Art History exam and then in tomorrow was my first soccer game of the season. I know I should be excited, but I couldn't help but be a little nervous.

"I think I got the last one wrong," Alice said to me as we made our way to the dining hall for lunch.

"I'm sure you did fine," I assured her. Alice always worried about her exams and it usually turns out that she did better than me.

She didn't answer, still going over her answers in her head, I'm sure. Once we got to the dining hall, we made our way through the small lines to get our food and went to look around for a table. We weren't looking around long when we saw Rosalie wave us over to where she, Emmett and Edward were sitting.

"How was your exam?" Edward kissed my cheek when I took a seat next to him.

"Fine," I smiled back at him happily. "I'm just glad it's over."

"Ugh! Me too!" Alice said between bites of her salad.

"Bella, I've never seen you wound up so tight," Emmett added with a laugh, "I'm glad you're back to normal."

I meant to shoot him a mock evil glare, but I couldn't help but laugh along with my friends, "_Almost, _back to normal," I corrected him, "There's still that soccer match tomorrow." At the thought of the game my stomach churned nervously causing me to push my plate away.

Edward put his arm around me, "You'll do great," he smiled his dazzling smile at me, making me blush.

"Which reminds me," Alice cut in, turning to Rosalie, "I need to go to the school store to get a Meyer U Soccer shirt today. Wanna come?"

"Ooh, good idea!" Rosalie answered.

"Either that or we borrow Bella's practice jersey. That's definitely showing team spirit."

Rosalie frowned, "No way. No offense, Bella, but I've seen how much you sweat in that thing."

I chuckled, "Wait, what is all this for? Are you guys coming to the game?!"

"Of course!" Alice's voice elevated about three octaves as she responded, grinning like a madwoman.

Edward looked at me like I was insane, "Come on, Bella, did you really think we'd miss your first game?"

"I-… I don't-" I stammered. I felt a touched smile spread across my face, "I guess I didn't think about it."

Rosalie rolled her eyes at me, as though she couldn't believe the thought hadn't occurred to me. "Well, we're coming. Who are you guys playing against anyway?"

"Tolkien University," I said nervously, "They're supposed to be pretty good."

"Whatever," Emmett reassured me, "Isn't their mascot a leprechaun or a hobbit or something? How intimidating is that?"

Everyone chuckled. "It's an elf!" I said through my laughs.

"Exactly my point." Emmett said, emphasizing his point with hand gestures, made dangerous by the fork in his hand loaded with mashed potatoes. "If you think about it, who is more likely to win? The Tolkien Elves or the Meyer Vamps? Vampires are a lot more intimidating than elves." Emmett argued.

"So you're basically saying that no matter how good they are, their mascot determines their fate?" Edward asked with an amused grin.

"Exactly."

--

* * *

Elves or no elves, their team had a pretty fierce reputation, and by the looks of their team members, they were looking to uphold that status. These girls were… there was no other word for it; scary! They each looked at our team with fierce glances, with looks that made me think they would start foaming at the mouth at any second.

It was minutes before the game would start and our team was entering the field in a straight line. As I entered the indoor field I heard the tumultuous sounds of the crowd going wild.

Wow.

There were so many people here for this game. I scanned the crowed briefly but couldn't find my friends. As my team lined up on one side of the field, facing our competitors, I felt Tanya nudge me gently. I looked at her and she smiled and pointed to something behind us.

There in the third row, dead center of the field stood Edward, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, Joshua, Logan, Melanie and a quite a few others of our friends. My nerves took a back seat for a minute as Tanya and I waved at them, beaming. Edward, Jasper and Emmett were wearing their Meyer U football team jerseys and jeans. Alice and Rose were decked out in the school colors. Rose was wearing a very fitted blue t-shirt with jeans. Only she could look like a supermodel at a game. Alice had apparently taken a large t-shirt and turned it into a dress which she paired with black leggings and boots. It was white with a blue Meyer Soccer on the front. She caught my eye, beamed at me and turned around to show me the back. She had a large number 11 on the back (my number). I laughed when I saw and grinned madly back at her.

"Okay ladies!" Coach Graysly called us in for a huddle, snapping my focus back into the game. I'd been nervous before but after seeing the support group we had, it made me feel a lot better. "This is it. This is what we've been training for! These girls have got nothing on you! So I want you to go out there and show 'em what you're made of!" She had fierce pride and determination in her eyes as she spoke. "Now are you ready?!"

"Yes!" We all shouted back in unison, getting pumped.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!" She screamed, getting us more riled up by the second.

"YES!!" We shouted louder. Upon hearing us the crowd got noisier, cheering and clapping along excitedly with us.

"That's right! Now everybody in!" She put her hand in the center and we all circled around her and put our hands in. "Go Vamps on three, ladies. Ready? One. Two. THREE!

"GO VAMPS!" We bellowed at the top of our lungs. The crowd went wilder. Once we broke apart, the Coach Graysly sent the starting players onto the field for the kick-off. I pounded fists with Terry Williams, our Goalkeeper before running out onto the field to take my position.

The game was grueling from the start. As soon as the first play started the other team intercepted a pass and took control of the ball. The girl dribbling the ball through the pitch had her face set in concentration… too much concentration on the ball and not on those around her. Natalie, one of the defenders on our team, quickly got the ball back for us and kicked it over towards me. I dribbled down towards the goal, not being blocked by anyone at the time. They had _seriously_ underestimated my small size. As fast as I could I manipulated the ball around the players, finding an opening and propelling my leg forward at full force about to make contact with the ball—

"FOUL!" I heard over the loudspeaker as I went down. I was barely aware of the crowd's angry scream in unison as some huge girl slammed hard into me, purposefully knocking me painfully onto the ground. I clamped my hand on my shin; out of the corner of my eye I saw Edward in the crowd standing up and staring at the offender with a livid expression. Alice was standing next to him with both her hands covering her mouth and her eyes widened in horror as was Rose. I immediately nodded towards my friends to let them know I was ok, even though I was clutching onto myself in pain.

Tanya hurried over to me and extended a hand out to me, helping me up. "You okay?" She asked.

"Yep," I said angrily through gritted teeth as I stood up, shaking off the hit. I was looking straight at my attacker with an angry glare. She looked at me, cocked her head to the side with an evil grin, as though to say _'Whatcha gonna do about it?'_

Tanya put her hand on my shoulder. She was looking at the girl with an expression that said she wasn't afraid of anything. "Don't worry, Bella. We'll get her."

We made our way back into our positions. I saw the coach of the other team screaming angrily at the referees as they awarded us a penalty.

It turned out that was only the first dirty scheming of the other team. Throughout the game they took every shortcut and unsportsmanlike moves as possible. We fought them back at full force, playing expertly and using our abilities to full strength. I didn't care how tired my body was, I was pumped! I kept getting blocked by the same annoying girl throughout the entire game. She was really starting to piss me off.

Tanya, Whitney (our fullback) and I took a few seconds to discuss her and her friends during a time-out. "Those little cheaters keep taking out our players!" Tanya complained loudly. She was right; we had to replace three of our players already due to their 'accidental' hits on the field.

I looked over at the huge girl who I had recently come to loathe. "Big Bertha over there won't leave me alone." They both snorted with laughter at my nickname for her. "She seems to be the ringleader."

"Maybe if we take out a few of her buddies she'll back off some." Whitney suggested.

"Any ideas?" I asked.

A grin spread slowly across Tanya's face, "One."

We put our heads together and when the whistle blew we ran back out onto the pitch. Once the playing started up again, we took possession of the ball once more. Knowing that Big Bertha's friends were coming for us, looking to take us out, we made ourselves aware of their positions behind us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one mean looking girl with beady eyes come up on my side, ready to take me out of the game.

_I don't think so_, I thought as I pretended to kick the ball and instead I stuck out my leg to the side, causing her to trip and land flat on her face. As a whistle blew somewhere I looked up to my friends in the stands. They were all cracking up with laughter. Edward and Emmett pounded fists in delighted triumph at my little move. The rest of our friends were jumping up and down and had thrown their fists in the air in a sign of excited approval. I, of course, to be totally naïve to the situation. I met Tanya and Whitney's eyes briefly and gave them both a small wink.

Finally, it was down to the final minutes of the game. We were tied, of course, after quite a few grimy plays by the other team. Luckily the ball was in our possession.

Pressured, pumped up and pissed off, our team huddled once more. "Ladies, we're down to the last few minutes. I think I have a way to get around their defense." Coach Graysly said to us as we huddled closer. She went through one last play before we all huddled around her once again and put our hands into a circle.

"BREAK!" We shouted once more as the crowd cheered us on.

We ran onto the field where I was met by Big Bertha's murderous stares. She wanted me out and she was making it known. This was a problem. Eventually the ball would come to me and I needed her out of my way. I didn't think the girl the Coach had assigned to keep her occupied would hold her for long.

As the play started, I dribbled the ball down the pitch as quickly as I could. The other team was circling around me, read for me to make a move. As soon as I saw and opening I passed the ball to another player who passed it on to Tanya. Before she could kick it into the goal, though, Big Bertha, having evaded everyone else, aimed her foot right at Tanya's shin.

Tanya went down quickly. I ran over to her to scope out the damage. There were people around her checking out her wound. When I was guaranteed that she was okay, my eyes found Bertha again. She was laughing maliciously.

That.

Was.

It.

I set my face with determination. Tanya was cleared to continue the game after everyone was sure that she would be alright. She met my eyes briefly, immediately expressing her anger at the other team. I nodded at her to show her that I agreed.

'_NO MERCY'_ I mouthed to her and she nodded back to me.

When the playing started again, Tanya had control of the ball. Bertha made her way towards her but she passed to ball to me before anyone had a chance to respond. I dribbled closer to the goal, Bertha right on my tail. I quickly passed to Tanya again, making her the object of Bertha's anger now. She fell right into our trap.

So quickly that no one else would notice, as Bertha closed in on Tanya, Tanya suddenly rammed her shoulder into Bertha… HARD. I winced from the obvious brunt of it as I saw her go down immediately. But before anyone had the chance to even realize she was down, Tanya kicked the ball over to me. I immediately went into a bicycle kick sending the ball past the Goalkeeper and into the goal.

There was a thunderous response from the crowd. I screamed and jumped up and down in excitement as I realized that we'd just won! I looked over at my friends who were all shrieking with glee and throwing their fists up in triumph. I caught Edward's eyes and blew him a kiss. He smiled jovially at me, locking our eyes together in a moment of blissful intensity. A familiar warm feeling spread through me; it was one that only he could bring up in me. But our gaze was interrupted when all of our team members ran towards Tanya and I, screaming with delight. We all hugged and jumped around, cheering like crazy. I saw my friends doing the same exact thing in the stands.

--

* * *

The gang had met us right after the game as soon as we'd exited the locker room. Tanya and I were being taken out to dinner to celebrate our victory and then later tonight there was a party being held by one of the soccer team members.

Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper and Edward had all gone up to Edward and Emmett's room while I went to our room to get ready. I walked in, throwing my bag on the floor and collapsing on my bed soon. I knew I had to get up and get ready to go out with everyone but I was so exhausted.

I sighed contentedly and was about to close my eyes when I saw it.

Another beige parchment envelope sitting on my desk propped up against my laptop.

With a sudden burst of adrenaline, I flew to my desk (not without tripping on our lavender area rug) and grabbed the envelope. Inside were a few lines elegantly written on the folded up parchment paper.

_Please meet us at our usual location at the south entrance of the Cathedral building on the eve of the next night. When the clock hands come together in unison, we will await your arrival. _

_-ŤŁ-_

--

Tomorrow night. I didn't expect the next mission to be so soon. I didn't have time to contemplate what I was doing. Usually I obsessed about my upcoming adventures for a few days, building up my nerve. This time I had a little over 24 hours.

_When the clock hands come together in unison?_ I repeated the words over in my head.

_Midnight!_ I thought excitedly as I figured out the last clue. So tomorrow night at midnight I would meet them by the south entrance of the Cathedral building where they would…? What? Put me in the dark somewhere for me to find my way out? Drop me off in the middle of the woods? I knew it had something to do with instincts.

I started to get anxious. In previous challenges and meetings I had been given ample time to figure everything out so at least I'd know what I was getting myself into… for the most part. I pulled out the last letter to search desperately for clues or hidden tips that might come in handy for tonight. What if they _did _drop me off in the middle of nowhere? I couldn't survive in the wilderness.

_What if I get attacked by a bear?_ I thought frantically as I went over the possibilities of the next mission. _Aren't you supposed to play dead or something? No that can't be right… what am I supposed to do just sit there and let it eat me?... or I could run… but what are the odds of me out running a BEAR?! …_ I looked up the bear survival skills and read them, wide-eyed.

"If the bear comes for you, climb a tree or drop to a fetal position. Cover you head and neck with your hands. Keep on your pack to protect your back. Even if the bear bites you continue to play dead. Once he realizes that you are not a threat he may leave. If he does not stop, fight back and make as much noise as possible, he might stop anyway…"

Oh _that's_ reassuring…

I don't know how long I sat at my desk analyzing the letters and searching on my lap top for survival skills, but by the time Alice came back into the room, I was fully freaked out.

"Hey Bella," she said as she took off her coat and scarf. "Why do you look so pale?"

I hastily hid the letters in my drawer, while pretending to look around for more notes or something. "Nothing, I'm fine." _Way to go, Bella. Could you sound more obvious?_

Alice gave me a strange look, "You don't look fine. You look…" She stared at me for a minute before answering, "Jittery."

"I'm fine, Alice," I got up from my desk and went to my wardrobe to grab my towel. "I'm just still hyped up from the game." Alice shrugged and I headed into the shower. When I came out there was an outfit on my bed already. "You know, I _am_ capable of dressing myself." I joked with her.

"Bella, I love you too much to let you dress yourself," she said simply.

I tried to roll my eyes at her, but couldn't because of the fit of giggles that took over.

--

* * *

**AN: The excerpt taken on the bear attack was from a **_**real**_** website, believe it or not! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	32. The Second Test

**I still don't own any characters. Please don't sue me. Thanks.**

* * *

It turned out to be a very enjoyable evening. Emmett had almost squirted soda out of his nose when he heard about the nick name we'd given to Big Bertha. After a very fun night of partying and dinner with my friends following the triumph at the soccer game, the day had left me in nerves wondering about my upcoming mission. I had hardly been able to sleep last night because I was so jumpy, but luckily my boyfriend is amazing and he can get me to calm down just by looking at me. Come to think of it, he can pretty much get me to do anything by just looking at me.

All too soon, however, it was night time on Sunday and once again, I was headed over to the back of the Cathedral Building. I tried my best not to over think what I was about to do. I had obsessively packed my khaki colored messenger bag for the possible necessities; flashlight, cell phone (although would they take that away?), granola bar (who knew how long this would last, although I don't think they'd let me starve), water bottle, scissors (I didn't have a Swiss army knife and this was the next best thing. It was either this or a butter knife… and I was seriously considering the butter knife until I thought maybe they'd ask me to empty the contents of my bag and how stupid would I look just carrying around a butter knife? Especially since this one had little pink designs on them… and it would hardly help me out in the wild). I'd also brought flint. The fact that I had no idea how to get it to start a fire was completely beside the point. I'd figure it out. You just hit it with something right?

Earlier today I'd gone into the town to get my necessities but I couldn't stop Alice from coming with me, so while she was busy picking out more stuff for me, I'd quickly ran to the sports store nearby that had camping equipment just in case. I hadn't thought about the Swiss army knife until it was too late but I did manage to get this thing called Bear Spray! Apparently you spray it at the bear and it's supposed to go away if it comes near you! Isn't that clever? It's like Bear-Be-Gone! Maybe I'll just spray it all over myself if I enter the woods at all tonight. So what if I stink? At least I'd be _alive_ to take a shower the next day. And I really _do_ think it is better to be alive and stinky than dead and smelling daisy fresh.

Except some of the online reviews for the product said it only makes them angrier.

Hopefully I wouldn't get the chance to find out either way. I didn't know whether or not they would be testing my 'instincts' in a nature/survival sense but I had to be prepared just in case.

As I turned the corner of the building into the familiar alley way that housed the south entrance, I saw a black SUV stopped in front of it with dark tinted windows. My heart thudded a little louder and quicker than normal.

As I neared the vehicle, the door opened and the grim reaper's twin stepped out.

The tall figure in a dark satiny robe with the hood pulled all the way forward so that his face was hidden held the door open for me, gesturing for me to enter. I silently obeyed, trying to put on a brave face.

Once I was inside, I noticed that there was another person in the passenger seat. I was the only person inside the car who wasn't wearing a cloak. The person who had held the door open for me stepped inside the car and shut the door firmly behind him.

The car hardly made any noise as it the ignition was started and it began to move towards its destination. We rode in silence, which didn't do anything to calm my nerves at this point. I thought about asking them questions, but then I figured they wouldn't answer me anyway.

Just when I thought the silence would eat away at me though, the person next to me spoke.

"So, Isabella," came an impossibly deep male voice from beside me, "The time has come for your next test."

He paused and I nodded slowly, anticipating the worst, but praying for the best. Either way, I couldn't deny that I was excited to be with them again. I hadn't actually been with them face to face since the masked ball last term.

He cleared his throat and adjusted his collar around the mouth part of his cloak before. "Your task is simple," he said as the car wound through the streets. One look outside of the window told me that we were in the old quaint town right outside of the school. Its old stone houses and buildings stood out to me. "You must retrieve a box."

I waited for more instructions but they didn't come. "A box?"

"Yes."

I fought _very_ hard not to roll my eyes. I knew there was a catch in there somewhere, I mean, come on, I'm not that stupid. "And…"

"And the box is being guarded."

_Bingo._

"Uh-oh," I let slip out accidentally.

The deep voice chuckled, "Relax, Isabella, getting the box will be a great deal easier than you expect." And he was silent again. His tone led me to believe that there was more to this than he was letting on.

I sat back against the smooth leather seats of the car and wondered about his words. As I looked through the window, I could see that we were not headed for any woods, a thought which greatly relaxed me. We were winding through the more commercial streets of the small town. I silently gave a little prayer of thanks for the fact that I wasn't headed out to the middle of the woods.

It wasn't long before the SUV came to a stop. We were parked in front of an old small rectangular building, made entirely of old stones piled together with large glass windows on the bottom floors. Through one window, I could see clearly through. There was a yellow glow from the light inside, an old man was seated at a desk talking on the phone. There were hardly any lights on the street so he could not see us, but we could see him perfectly as we were parked right in front of that window.

"Isabella," spoke the man with the deep voice next to me, bringing my attention back to him. "Your task is simple. Do you see the safe behind the old man?"

I looked towards the window again and nodded.

"In that safe lies the box. All of the tools you need to find the combination will be in this letter," he held out a parchment envelope.

I took a deep breath.

_Something isn't right_.

Once again, my eyes wandered over to the old man in the small room seen through the large window on the front of the building. The sidewalk was very small so we were barely a few feet away. If he looked up he would be looking right at us.

But something else was bothering me. This man was very old, by the looks of him. He was dressed in a navy security guard uniform and he had large bags under his eyes. He was frowning and seemed to be pleading into the phone. I pushed down the button to open my window, hoping to grasp some of his conversation.

It worked, but only barely, I had to strain to hear it, "No sir," the old man insisted, "I won't let you down sir." He spoke desperately into the phone.

"This old man is new here," said the deep voice of the person next to me again, "He seems weak enough. Getting past him should be easy."

"But," I stopped, building up courage, "isn't this _illegal?_"

"Only if you get caught. Besides, what is in the box is not something they will miss." He assured me.

But I wasn't eased. I looked over at the old man again. He had put the phone down and was looking alert and ready. "What happens to him if I succeed?"

The League member next to me gave a very obvious shrugged. "I suppose they'll either deduct it from his wages or terminate him."

I felt so sorry for this poor old man. It didn't seem fair. "I thought you said it wasn't something they'd miss? Why would they fire him if it wasn't important?"

"Isabella, it is no concern of yours what happens to this man." He said with a touch of impatience staining his tone, "You are here to complete a task. I am simply telling you what I know. Every time a person has come to this part of their membership process, there is someone sitting right where that man is now. Does that answer your question?"

So they would fire him. Great. I felt my heart sink. It wasn't right. "You're telling me that in order for me to pass this test I have to inevitably _steal_ an item that will probably cost this poor old man his job."

"More or less. There is no need to over dramatize it." His voice was void of any emotion, "You are taking what you need."

His words struck me._Taking what you need._ They were the words from the letter.

_Have you the determination to take what you desire without question?_

I had agonized over this question for a long while. This old man was standing in between my one link to my family; between me and my only link to Renee. But it was either his well being or my desire. They couldn't both exist much longer. I would have to choose.

I sighed in defeat, taking the envelope from his hand and going for the handle of the SUV. I _had_ to do this for Renee. I was losing her more and more with each passing day. I felt her slipping away from me. I couldn't lose her a second time.

But as soon as I opened the door, I felt the weight of my decision on me. I reluctantly made up my mind and closed it again without leaving the vehicle.

"No." I said defeated. I couldn't bring my face up to say the words clearly.

"No?" Did I detect something behind his question?

"I'm sorry. But there must be another way. Another test. This isn't right. I'm sorry, I can't do that."

His tone was once again flat and emotionless, "Why not? Have you not done the same thing before? You have trespassed into the Cathedral Building and taken something from there. What makes this different? This is what we require. There are no other options. No other way." His voice had a sense of finality.

I thought about this for a second. It was true, I did trespass before during the first task. But I didn't steal and I didn't damage anything or anyone. I wasn't _breaking_ and entering. Just simply _entering_. And the object I had to retrieve was placed there specifically for me to find, was it not? I didn't steal.

"That was different." I said finally. "The first task was a bit admittedly a bit mischievous, but _this_ is clearly wrong. It is _stealing_. And it's _hurting_ someone. I-" I braced myself for the reality of my decision; I was losing possibly the only remaining link to my family, to my mother. I felt a familiar lump in my throat. "Listen," I said after a long pause, "I want this for so many reasons, and I am truly honored that you chose me to be a member of your organization." I spoke with more courage and security than I felt at the moment, "but I'm not now, nor do I ever think I could be, the kind of person who can just look the other way. If there is anything else I can do, I'd gladly do it, but…" I trailed off. The lump in my throat got more significant.

Stupid conscience.

"Isabella," He spoke again, his voice still monotonously even, "You do realize that this opportunity will not come again? That the knowledge we possess concerning your family members, as well as the world they participated in, will be lost to you."

I bowed my head, tears threatening to escape. I wavered again once more. Here it was; the mysteries of my family I'd been itching to reveal for ten years, and I was throwing it away. But what could I do? It wasn't _right_. Renee wouldn't have done it. Judging from the type of person my mother was and the respect she had for her parents, I couldn't see how my grandmother could have done this either, or something like it. "Yes," I whispered in a small voice.

Stupid freaking conscience.

"Well then…" He sounded somehow pleased. I heard shuffling from the front seats as I waited for him to continue with the bad news, "I cannot say I am surprised,"

His answer stung me for a second, "You were expecting me to fail?" I couldn't help being hurt, nor could I hide it.

"On the contrary," I looked up, completely bewildered at the sudden optimistic tone in his voice, "I was expecting you to pass. And congratulations. You did."

Huh?

I shook my head, I was clearly daydreaming. Was this all some weird dream?

I felt my heart stop for a second as I turned quickly to stare at him. "WHAT?!" I bellowed, unable to contain my confusion and disbelief.

He chuckled, "I said, congratulations."

I stared at his cloaked face with my mouth hanging open.

"Isabella? Are you still with us?" The people in the front gave small snorts of laughter at that comment.

"I … I … I don't understand." _That_ was an understatement, but in the moment I couldn't come up with anything better.

He answered me in a very calm and noticeably pleased voice, "As we have mentioned previously, the qualities we search for in our members are courage, wit, a sense of adventure, loyalty and morality. The first task we set up for you tested your wit and your bravery. This second test put into question your moral fiber and your integrity. And, once again, you have passed with flying colors." His tone told me that he was smiling, although I couldn't see it for myself.

I didn't answer him right away as my mind wandered back to the letter once more. So _this_ is what they'd meant by my 'instinctive nature'. "So… you're _not_ testing my survival skills in the wilderness?" I asked stupidly.

All three people in the car laughed very muffled laughs. "No," said the man beside me.

I sighed with relief, "Good, because that's one test I _definitely_ would've failed." I surprised myself in how casual my joke sounded. Despite the fact that I'd been incredibly nervous and hesitant just a minute ago, I now felt at ease, safe and impossibly comfortable in the presence of these strangers. As they chuckled at my little joke, I leaned back against the seat, resting my head on the back and closing my eyes.

"We hope you are not angry with us." He spoke again, "This challenge was purposefully meant to be difficult. As we mentioned before, this journey you will take with us is a complex at times, both physically and mentally."

I shook my head, "I'm not angry, just relieved" as I spoke the words I realized how true they were. My journey with them wasn't over. I hadn't lost.

I smiled to myself as the thoughts sunk in.

"As a reward for having shown great human decency and courage, for you did show a different kind of courage tonight, we offer you a small prize. Thus far, this journey for you has been blind. However, tonight you may ask us 5 questions. We cannot guarantee that we will answer them all, for some things must still remain a mystery. But we will not, of course, lie to you."

After all this time,_finally_, some answers. I thought hard for a few minutes, not wanting to waste the little information they were willing to give me. There was one that had been in the back of my head for a while now. "Why did you choose me? I mean, I've never done anything worth noticing. Was it only because my family had been in this?"

He took a moment to consider his answer before he spoke, "No. We first took notice of you because of your family ties, that much is true. But you alone kept our interest. Do not sell yourself short, Isabella. You embody the characteristics we search for in our friends and members. Take a look at what you did tonight, for example. Many would have thrown consequence and principles to the wind when their greed and curiosity took over. You are far more interesting and worthy of greatness than you give yourself credit for."

I was glad it was dark in the car because I could feel myself turning red at his words. "Is there a way for me to contact you? I mean, not that I would unless it was important or anything, but, for example, I'll be going out of town in a little while, so what if you send me a message and I don't get it?"

Once again, he took his time to answer, "I cannot fully answer that question, and I suppose for the time being, no, there is no way for you to contact us. But please rest assured that should you need us in any way, whether you believe you do or not, we will most certainly be there."

There was suddenly a warm homely feeling in my chest. His answer was vague, but it made me happy.

"Next question?" He asked after a few moments of silence.

Knowing he wouldn't answer any of my more pressing questions, I settled for another that had been rolling around in my head, "What would have happened if I_had_ gone in to steal the box?"

They all chuckled again. "It would have been empty."

"So it was all a hoax? The letter, the clues, everything?"

"Not entirely." The people in the front shuffled around and a satiny cloaked hand reached back and handed a small midnight blue rectangular box to the man next to me. He then handed it to me. "This is for you."

I felt a thrill of excitement flush through me as I accepted the box from him. I opened the thin lid to find a beautiful round object sitting on a dark velvety cushion.

It was a compass.

The most beautifully ornate compass I'd every seen. It was made of silver but had tiny gold detailing around the edges of the opening. On the front was a circular symbol engraved into it; a sun with a crescent moon directly in front of it, and both merged into one circle with a star in the center. The entire thing was really stunning. I picked it up in my hand, running my fingers along the long, delicate silver chain attached to it. I clicked open the lid to look at the inside which was just as stunning as the outside. Although it was obviously brand new, the design and quality was clearly antique. "Thank you." Was all I could say. I felt tears of happiness in my eyes.

"It is our great pleasure to present this to you. We all have one exactly like this one. It is time you should too."

I was grinning like a madwoman as I studied the compass further. I didn't even realize that the vehicle had long since moved away from the old stone building and was headed back to campus.

He soon interrupted my thoughts once more, "I believe you still have one question left."

I looked at him, unable to ask anything that I really wanted to know, such as their identities, any information of further missions, when this process would be over, what kind of things they do. So I settled for one that would make me feel a little more at home in their presence from here on in.

"OK, I have a request."

"As I mentioned before," his tone was wary, "we will try, but there are some things we cannot agree to just yet."

"I understand, and I'm not going to ask anything too big of you."

He nodded, "Please proceed, Isabella."

"Alright then," I continued, "Do you think you could just call me 'Bella'?"

The three hooded figures in the car erupted into muffled laughter. The one next to me nodded as he laughed. "Absolutely." The car pulled to a stop in front of my dormitory which was empty outside due to the late hour and that fact that everyone had classes in the morning. "We will be in touch again soon."

I nodded to him, gave them all a warm smile and waved goodbye.

"Oh and, by the way," he stopped me before I closed the car door behind me, "Congratulations on a spectacular soccer win, _Bella._"

--

* * *

**So, thoughts so far? This story is turning out to be a lot longer than I planned, but I just can't bring myself to leave stuff out. :) **


	33. Remembrance

It was nearly 2:30 in the morning when I got back to my room after my mission and I didn't realize I was so exhausted until I felt the presence of my comfortable bed drawing me into it. But when I slipped in there was already someone in there. I nearly yelped from shock, but smiled as soon as I realized who it was.

Edward's sleeping form reacted immediately to my appearance, instantly wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer to him. I welcomed the gesture and moved my hair out of my way as I snuggled closer to his chest, inhaling his marvelous scent deeply. I tilted my head upwards so my lips could meet the soft, pale skin underneath his chin, placing a tender kiss there. Still asleep, his face stretched into a small, sexy grin as his arms tightened around me.

"Mmhmm…mmm," was the unintelligible murmur that came from him at the time. I giggled silently at his cute sleepy expression and continued to gaze at his face for a while, taking in his perfect features once again. Beginning from the top and working my way down, I analyzed the way his soft bronze locks fell forward from his hairline and settled flawlessly and messily behind him, a few strands coming forward into his face. My hand gently traced his forehead, moving away the invading strands and following the shape of his face, memorizing every feature once more.

Looking at him made me ache with longing; a longing to tell him exactly how I felt about him. Oh how I wished the words would come out, they seemed to be physically lodged in my throat and didn't seem to want to budge. It wasn't fair. He deserved to know how I felt.

I closed my eyes, cuddled closer to him and vowed to one day soon work up the nerve to tell him the truth.

--

* * *

The snow on the ground melted away completely as the warmer weather came early. It wasn't even officially spring time yet, and it wouldn't be for a little over a week, but I wasn't complaining. I could finally retire my winter coat and make out fine with just a light jacket and a scarf.

"Okay, Alice," I hugged her close, "Please stop worrying about me, I'll be back the day after tomorrow."

She studied my face again as she pulled away, "Are you sure?"

"For the _millionth_ time, yes!" I told her as I made my way to hug Rosalie goodbye. It was time to go back to Forks today, tomorrow was Renee's memorial service and my friends were gathered in mine and Alice's room to bid me farewell and give their condolences one last time before I was gone.

"Alright, alright. But my cell phone will be on me so call me whenever, ok?" Alice continued. I didn't want anyone to be worried, but seeing as Alice lived with me, she got to see me when I couldn't mask my apprehension towards the upcoming event. On a few occasions, she would snap me back into focus when my mind was miles away, silently agonizing as it would do with more frequency these days. So, I suppose, she had more reason than most to worry about me.

Rosalie hugged me tight, "Call if you need _anything_."

"Thanks." I smiled at them all to let them know I would be okay as I hugged each of them in turn before finally turning to Edward, who was driving me to the airport. He took my small carry on bag (I wasn't taking much since I was only staying for two days at the most) and we headed out to his car.

I tried to avoid any unpleasant conversation on the ride there, although I knew he was worried about my well being. We just chatted happily during the entire ride; he had me laughing at some random stories. He drove one handed as he held my hand the entire ride there.

"Bella," he said as we finally had to part ways once inside the airport. The hustle and bustle of the busy airport did nothing to ease my nerves about the trip. I immediately turned to him and put my arms around his neck, sighing. I knew that even though I wasn't going to be gone for so long that I would miss him. I heard him inhale deeply with his face in my neck.

"I'm going to miss you." I admitted, voicing my true feelings.

I felt him smile, "I'll see you again soon." He crushed is lips against mine in a sweet goodbye. Before too long we pulled apart. I hadn't even left yet and I already wanted nothing more than to be back in his arms. Sensing my feelings, he ran his hand on my cheek again, "Soon. I promise." I smiled and kissed him once more before heading through airport security to board my flight.

--

* * *

It seemed that everyone in Forks showed up to pay respects to Renee. All her friends, almost all of the adults I knew from around the town had come. The service itself was … slow. It's the best way to describe my feelings towards it; agonizingly, never endingly slow. Everyone hugged me and Charlie, telling us how sorry they were and how well we seemed to be doing after this time. I kept hearing the same words repeated over and over; _"Renee would've been proud of you, Bella."_ Although it was intended to make me feel better, it just hurt.

There were so many people gathered in our house afterwards that I could barely make it to the stairs. After the service at the church, most of the people came over, bringing food or flowers. It reminded me of the days after her death, when they had gathered in her memory for the first time, except this time everyone was a bit more lifted; they would laugh as they animatedly discussed their interactions with her and marveled at the crazier schemes she would come up with. But every time one person finished a story and everyone had gotten their laughs or chuckles in, they got the faraway look of painful remembrance. It was too much to bear.

I got up from my seat in the corner of the living room, where I could avoid the chit-chat on how amazing my mother was and how I was lucky to have had her even for a short while. _As if they knew_, I thought to myself. I didn't need anyone to tell me about the greatness of my mother; I had experienced it first hand before she went away.

_This is too much_, I thought as I felt an internal pain in my chest. As though a roughly patched hole in my chest was being gnawed at slowly, reopening an old wound in the most painful way possible. _I have to get out of here_, my instincts told me. I felt like I was suffocating. As quickly as I could without drawing attention to myself I made my way out of the house.

It was drizzling lightly outside but for once it didn't bother me. It was better than being in _there_. I needed to get my mind off of this day. It was too much. Thinking of my mother as 'dead' made the hole rip itself open faster. _You haven't lost her_, I repeated over and over in my head.

_Yes you did_. Another part of me insisted.

Before the internal argument could go any further, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I didn't even realize that I was crouched over until I stood up to look at my father.

"Bella," his red tainted eyes were filled with worry. "Honey, what are you doing out here?"

I built up my amour once again, but it wasn't as collected as it once was, "I'm sorry, Dad, I don't want to be rude to anyone. But I just had to get some air." I plastered a fake smile on my face for his sake, hoping he would see through it.

He nodded his head slowly before he put his arms around my shoulders and pulled me in for a hug. I hugged him back lightly, not letting myself fall apart. My dad had gone through so much when we lost her; he'd lost part of himself. I had to be the strong one. One of us had to be. "Bella, I love you so much." He sighed, hesitating before he continued, "But I just don't know what else to do." I felt him shrug helplessly.

"With what, dad?" I asked bewildered, still uncomfortable in his embrace, "The service was fine. The whole town showed up."

He pulled away from me, "Not with the service, with _you!_" He stopped and looked away, "Bella…" His voice was uneasy, but he fought for control, "Bella… it's time. You have to _let go._"

"Dad," I insisted, "I'm fine. I've always been fine,"

He took a deep breath, "Bella, please stop lying to me." He shut his eyes, the painful expression on his face broke my heart, "I _watched._ I _saw_ you. You were empty for so long." He looked away, cleared his throat, and looked back at me, "You were so desperately latched on to her, even though she is _gone,_ that you never let anyone in. Ever." I could see the pain in his eyes as his mind wandered back to the memories of me in the time after my mother's death.

"But you're different now." He continued, "When I would talk to you on the phone when you went away to school, you sounded happier. You sounded like your old self again. And then you came home for winter break and I can't put into words how happy it made me to see you _alive_ again. I don't know what sparked the change, but all I know is that I'm grateful." He hastily turned away, and I saw his hand reach up to his face and wipe away a tear that he would never allow anyone to see. Once again he cleared his throat, roughly fighting for control of his voice, "And yet…" another long pause, "… and yet still … … … after all this time, Bella… … … you're_still_ not letting go."

Tears were forming in my eyes as I listened to his words. I never knew my dad noticed so much. I'd always thought … I can't believe … Charlie and I were never exactly open with our emotions.

For the first time in a very long time, I was fully aware of how much my father loved me.

"Bella," he continued, his eyes redder and more intense than I'd ever seen them. He put both hands on my shoulders, "_please_, Bella. For your sake, please … … _you just have to say goodbye._"

The incessant gnawing in my chest was suddenly replaced by a rabid clawing as the hole opened wider than ever. I felt my head shaking and my breathing become heavier as I shook my head. _Stay in control dammit!_ I scolded myself.

"Bella, it's okay," My dad's voice wobbled noticeably and for the first time, he didn't even attempt to hide it. He had more important things to worry about; me. "It's okay to let her go. Honey, I want _so many_ good things for you. I want you to be happy. _Really happy._ Not just getting by. But as long as you keep dragging her along with you, you'll never be able to accomplish that. She wouldn't have wanted to keep this up."

I felt the tears spill over my eyes and begin to stream down my face, but I wiped them away hastily.

"No!" He scolded, "Let them come. I know it hurts, baby, but it has to happen sometime. It'll be better afterwards." He paused and looked away, "Trust me on that." He added, obviously speaking from personal experience.

I pulled away from him, suddenly suffocating. I needed to get away.

Anywhere else. Just not here.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"Can I borrow the truck?"

He sighed, defeated. He slowly pulled out the keys from his pocket. His eyes met mine with that same intensity from earlier. "It's not going to be easy, Bella. But you have to. Just say goodbye." He put the keys in my outstretched hand, then put his hands over mine and closed my fingers over them.

I nodded, barely acknowledging the gesture before I made my way to the old red truck we'd had forever. The engine roared loudly as I started it. Charlie never took his eyes off me as I backed out of the driveway and drove away.

--

* * *

I didn't know where the hell I was going but my subconscious took control and I found myself in the cemetery. It'd been so long since I'd been here.

In fact, the last time, I hadn't even gone to her actual burial, I'd just kept my back to it as I sat on a bench near the entrance of the cemetery gates. It had been too much back then. I couldn't watch them put her into the ground.

I hadn't consciously decided to come to her grave, but I suppose my dad's words had a greater affect on me than I'd realized. Without my mind's consent, my body parked the truck and hopped out, then my feet walked around, searching for the familiar name in the grave stones. I didn't remember where she was buried so I ended up walking around, wanting so desperately to turn back around and run but I couldn't. Not this time.

Finally, I found her.

_Here lies Renee Alexandra Hayden Swan_

_Loving Daughter, Wife and Mother_

The words didn't do her justice.

Standing on this spot, I felt a little ridiculous. _This wasn't her_.

_I can't do this._ I argued with myself as my chest agonized in pain.

But somehow, I didn't move. Even though it was still drizzling and I could feel my body getting colder by the minute, I stayed.

Charlie's words repeated in my head _"Just say goodbye"_.

Slowly, I walked over to her stone, running my fingers over the smoothness of it, tracing the words engraved on there. As I did so, I felt the emotions bubble to the surface. I didn't know how to begin to let them out; I'd been repressing them for so long now.

So I did the only thing I could think of.

"Mom…?" I whispered so softly, I barely heard myself. "I …" A huge lump in my throat made me pause as I spoke to my deceased mother, "I miss you _so_ much."

And then the sobs came.

For the first time ever in ten years, I cried freely. The hole was wide open now, unrestrained from any amour. Without the tearing of the walls I'd put up to cover it, it was actually less painful.

"It wasn't fair!" I sobbed softly, "You just _left._ One minute you were here and the next you were gone and I…" another sob, "I was just_sitting there_… waiting on the steps of the school for you to pick me up." Another sob, "And I just remember being so _angry_ at you because I thought you forgot about me… and you were dying… and … and I- I w-was _mad_ at you!"

My sobs were uncontrollable now. My body was shaking with grief and regret. "I'm_so so sorry_, mom. I'm s-sorry for everything … I'm sorry for being angry … I'm sorry for not saying goodbye … I'm sorry you were rushing so quickly to come and get me that you got in an accident. It's my fault … it was all m-my fault … a-and I'm_s-so_ sorry!"

I fell to my knees and my hands immediately went to my face, as I leaned over and cried loudly and freely. "I-I never stop missing you, and it doesn't get any easier!" I admitted out loud.

Once again, I lost myself to my sobs.

"I will _never_ forget you." I barely whispered to my invisible mother.

It was as though a damn had been broken inside me, letting all the grief and anger I'd built up for ten years spill out. And boy did it ever spill out. The emotions erupted from within me and I was powerless to stop it.

So I cried.

When I'd cried myself out and had been sitting there for a long while, I stood up. Once more I ran my fingers over the smooth, wet gravestone. "Goodbye mom." I whispered, letting fresh tears escape me.

With my eyes on the ground I turned around and made my way back to the truck.

But I came to an abrupt halt when I realized I wasn't alone.

There, standing a few yards away from me, by some of the trees near Renee's grave stone, were Edward, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper. They had solemn looks on their faces, dressed in black and white clothing. Rosalie and Emmett were huddled under one umbrella, Jasper and Alice were under another and Edward was under his own.

I felt more tears come forward at seeing them there. I tried to smile, but it just came out as a sob.

Edward made his way over to me, never breaking eye contact with me. He pulled me into his chest and held me tightly. Soon, everyone was gathered around us, huddled in close for a supporting hug.

"When…" I began once I regained control of my voice, "What… are you doing here?"

"We took a flight this morning, we would have been here much earlier but there were delays," Emmett spoke, his usual comical tone was not present.

Edward pulled away slightly and looked at me anxiously, "Are you alright?"

I nodded, "I'm fine." And for the first time, it was true.

He shrugged off his jacket and draped it around my shoulders, shielding me from the cold, misty air. "Are you ready to go?"

I nodded, "Yes."

**--**

* * *

**Sorry for making you wait so long! I had actually written this chapter and the one after it almost 3 days ago but it was still missing something. Its actually still not my best work but I couldn't stare at it anymore. :) Sorry if its depressing but much happier chapters are coming up. I think its safe to say that this is the only really depressing chapter that will appear in the entire story, but it was important so I had to have it. I hope it came across well and not cheesy. :) **


	34. Lighter than Before

We got back to the house in record time, Edward and I in the old truck while the rest took their rental car. The entire ride back Edward held me close. But I was okay now. I was a lot better. I felt different.

I couldn't tell you what it was like, but it was almost as if I was lighter. _Physically_ lighter. Things seemed just a little bit brighter. Letting Renee go was hard, it was probably the most difficult thing I'd ever done. Even though it would never be okay that she was gone, it was better. I knew that a part of her would never leave me. And it was enough.

"Bella!" I heard my name being called as soon as we exited the truck. I was shocked to see who was calling me.

Walking over to us were Joshua, Logan, Tanya and Melanie. "Hey!" I smiled at them as I hugged them each in turn. "I can't believe you guys came!" I was touched.

"Well, yes, we were supposed to be here earlier," Tanya said.

"Yea, Emmett told me your flight was delayed."

"That's an understatement," Jasper said, rolling his eyes, as he and the rest made his way over to us.

"How are you?" Tanya asked.

"Good." I smiled at her.

The clouds left and the sun came out in a matter of minutes after we'd gotten there, reflecting my new mood. We went inside, where there were fewer people now, and sat around the couch as they all told me about their crazy flight.

"So the stewardess came up was _flirting_ with Emmett!" Rosalie explained to me with an angry look on her face. "I mean, I was sitting right next to him. How ridiculous! And she would shoot me these dirty looks. I didn't drink any of the stupid soda she served just in case she poisoned it."

"Well, you didn't have to trip her." Edward pointed out with a smirk.

"I didn't." She grinned, mischievously, "Emmett did!"

"My foot_ accidentally_ slipped to the side." Emmett shrugged with a playful grin before putting his arm about Rosalie, "Nobody looks at my Rose like that." He kissed her on the cheek and she beamed at him.

In another hour or so, Logan spoke, looking at his watch "And unfortunately, we have to go now." Logan looked very apologetic. "See, our flight back is in a about three hours and its kind of far from here to the airport."

Melanie looked so sad, "I'm so sorry Bella. We were supposed to be here for longer."

I smiled at her, "No its okay. Are you sure you don't want to stay though?"

"I wish we could." Tanya hugged me.

Edward spoke up, "Actually, some of us catching your flight tomorrow with you."

My eyes widened in delight. "Seriously?!"

"Yes, your dad was kind enough to give me your flight information last night and we booked the last five seats left on it." He said as he kissed my nose sweetly. I blushed but smiled at him lovingly.

Josh, Logan, Melanie and Tanya took their rental car back to the airport while the rest of us stayed at my house. Our house had a guest room and a pull out couch. The girls would be staying in my room since I had a queen sized bed we could all fit in. After everyone else had left, Emmett charmed Charlie into taking him out for a ride in the cruiser, and even let him drive.

"So how do you work these things?" Emmett asked my dad, holding the handcuffs he seemed fascinated by in his hands. We were all gathered around the living room, exhausted.

Charlie laughed and shook his head, "Here," he said, taking them from him and showing him how they work. Emmett paid rapt attention. When Charlie was done showing him, he gave Jasper an evil grin.

"Don't even think about it." Jasper responded menacingly. Emmett just chuckled, still playing with the handcuffs.

The guys all got a kick out of hearing some of the crazier stories Charlie had about random arrests. Some of these even I'd never heard.

My dad ordered a few pizzas for us, apologizing for not having the culinary skills to cook us a good meal, but after I explained that his expertise in the kitchen didn't extend beyond scrambled eggs, they laughed and agreed that pizza would do just fine. Besides there were a ton of leftovers from what people had brought over earlier.

Charlie went to bed early, leaving us all in the living room. Alice and Rose immediately went to scope out my room and closet, no doubt vetoing everything in there while Emmett and Jasper raided the refrigerator some more, leaving me alone with Edward.

Edward never left my side from the moment they'd all arrived. He had kept a permanent arm around me for support, and I was grateful.

"Thank you," I said to him, the minute we were alone.

He smiled crookedly at me once again, instantly knowing what I meant, "Anything for you." I felt my cheeks flush at his words which only made his smile bigger and he stroked my cheek with the back of his hand. As we sat on the couch I lay my head on his chest as he put his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. I closed my eyes at the bliss of the moment. I felt so at peace. "So are you okay?" He whispered against my ear.

"Yes, I'm fine." I felt bad for giving him such a generic line, so I added more, "Better than fine." He seemed satisfied with my answer, but my there was something else bothering him. "What's wrong, Edward?"

He sighed into my hair, "This afternoon …" he hesitated, "you looked so … horribly sad … it broke my heart to know that there was nothing I could do."

I felt my face flush, "How much did you see?"

"Not much. You were on your knees when we found you… visibly upset. I was ready to run to you but Alice held me back. She told me to give you some time."

I smiled to myself, "She was right. There were just some things I needed to sort out."

"And did you?"

I thought about that for a second, "I think so." I said confidently.

He moved his one hand up to my neck, "Good." His fingers were softly tracing my collar bone. I tilted my head to the side to give him better access, basking in the pleasure of his touch. His lips gently touched my cheek; I felt the tip of his nose grazing my jaw line as he inhaled my scent and placed subtle kisses on my face.

I drew in a sharp breath and his lips moved gently along my skin before reaching mine. He pulled away a tiny bit, just far enough to look into my eyes, our lips almost touching as he held my gaze with the devotion in his eyes. I was unable to look away.

And then his perfect lips crashed on to mine, parting them with his tongue. My hands tangled in his hair, pulling him closer to me as our mouths worked in sync, creating a very heated, heavy, passionate kiss. I couldn't get enough of him. My back straightened, giving me better access to him, and giving him better access to my torso. His one hand was on my neck, pulling me towards him as our kiss became more urgent, his other hand moved to my back … then slowly to my side … it held on to my waist … moved further down to my hip which he grasped onto, pulling my entire body even closer to him.

My body reacted before my mind could. I shifted up so that I could move my legs on either side of him as he sat upright on the couch, never breaking our kiss. The moment my legs wrapped around him, I heard him moan gently into my mouth. It drove me wild. Pushing my self harder on him, I moved one hand down his back and to his side, feeling his muscles rippling underneath his shirt.

"EH-_EM!_", we both jumped as we heard Jasper clear his throat. My face went beat red as I froze on top of Edward. Jasper and Emmett were both leaning against a wall in the living room, grinning madly as Edward and I fought to regain control of our breathing.

Emmett was deeply amused, "Okay, after _that_ little show, Edward you are never allowed to complain about me and Rose again."

Edward glared at his brother.

"We'll give you too another minute or so of privacy. Then I think we should all go to bed considering we have to be up and 4 for a flight. Besides, I don't think your dad would appreciate the position you were in right now, Bella." Jasper said with another grin before he and Emmett made their way out of the living room, chuckling.

Edward and I both sighed. I rested my forehead against his, still sitting on his lap with my legs on either side of him. We were both still breathing hard. Once our breaths were in control, I pecked him on the lips and he put his arms around my waist, pulling me into him and hugging me. I wrapped my arms around his neck in return.

"You are so irresistible, do you know that?" He whispered gently into my ear, making me quiver.

"I could definitely say the same about you."

After a couple of minutes, I got up, bid him goodnight and went up to my room where Alice and Rose were both seated cross legged on my bed looking through some old photographs of mine.

"Bella, look how cute you are!!" Alice squealed holding up a baby picture of me.

Rosalie took the picture from her to see it better, "My goodness your head was big!"

I rolled my eyes, "Thanks."

Alice patted a spot next to her on the bed. I went to sit down next to her and she put her arm around me. "So how do you feel?"

I was about to give her the usual _I'm fine_ answer, but I knew they wanted more than that. "I feel better. I can't believe I'm about to admit this," I began, leaning my head against her shoulder, "but I'm glad I came. I'm glad my dad arranged this."

We talked for a while about the occurrences of today. They asked me about my crazy small town neighbors and about the scandals (not that I knew many, but they were interested none the less). Then they detailed the offenses in my closet before finally getting ready for bed.

Rosalie left to go shower leaving Alice and I alone. Before long, though, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," I called, barely above a whisper so I wouldn't wake Charlie.

Emmett's head popped through the door. "Where's Rose?" He asked looking around.

"In the shower," replied Alice.

"Good," he said coming in and shutting the door behind him. We both looked at him curiously. "I have something I need to talk to you both about." He said with a cute excited grin on his face.

Alice and I exchanged apprehensive looks. "What's up Emmett?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"I need a favor…"

**--**

* * *

In the next few days everything settled back down to normal. Classes were a bit demanding, but no more than usual and soccer practices had eased up just a bit. Unfortunately, our group was soon to be divided by a slight argument between two of my friends.

It all began in the dining hall, when we'd all met up for dinner.

"Hey did you guys all get that email about signing up for the dorms again for next year?" Alice asked us as we were seated.

I nodded, in between bites of my lasagna, "Yep. You up for being roomies again or did you want to try for singles?"

She thought about that for a second, "I was actually thinking maybe we should get an apartment."

"Aren't apartments around here incredibly expensive?"

"It would be almost the same as the dorms, actually. Maybe less. And your scholarship still covers it."

I shrugged. "Sounds good then."

Alice squealed in excitement. "Cool! Rose, are you in? We could look for three bedrooms. Think of how easy it'll be to hide Bella's ugly clothes!" (I scowled at her when she said this).

Rosalie laughed and shrugged, "Works for me."

"Yay!" Alice started bouncing, earning her an adoring grin from her boyfriend. "So we have to act fast of all the good ones will be taken for next year. How does apartment hunting this weekend sound?"

"But its still March," I pointed out, "We won't need it until the end of August."

Jasper interrupted, "You'd be surprised how hard it is to get a decent apartment around here. There are waiting lists for some places."

I couldn't hide the shock from my face. Edward, who was sitting next to me, silently eating and reading a textbook at the same time, chuckled at my expression and kissed me on the cheek, making me blush.

Rosalie spoke then, "But Bella's right, it'll have to be later. I'll be busy this weekend."

Emmett looked up from his dinner, "What do you have planned?" he asked curiously.

Rosalie looked at him, a quizzical expression on her face, "Don't you _know?_"

"No." He said simply, but soon a look of worry crossed his face, "am I supposed to?"

Rosalie dropped her fork. "Please tell me you're kidding, Emmett." I could tell she was getting worked up. Rose was the one person I would never want to cross for one main reason; she was terrifying when she was angry.

Emmett opened his mouth to speak but then shut it again. He looked down at the table, concentrating hard as though trying to remember something he'd forgotten.

His silence did nothing to ease Rose's distress. "Emmett how could you not remember this weekend?!" She demanded as her nostrils flared in anger.

"Honey I—"

"Oh don't _'honey'_ me!" She said, suddenly picking up her tray and getting up to leave.

The rest of us watched the scene silently as Emmett pleaded with Rosalie.

"If you can't remember then I'm not going to tell you!" She spat furiously, "It's obviously not important to you so forget it." It wasn't difficult to tell that beyond the anger was some hurt. She spun on her heel and promptly left, not giving anyone a chance to go follow her.

Once she was gone, I turned to Emmett. "Why didn't you just _tell_ her?!"

"Yea, Emmett, you didn't have to give it all away, just let her know that you remembered."

Emmett grinned, "Because once she realizes how wrong she was, she'll be that much more eager to make it up to me." He raised his eyebrows knowingly, giving us a wink.

Edward cracked up, Alice and I chuckled and shook our heads. Jasper, however, shut his eyes tightly in obvious disgust, "Aw come on, dude, that's my sister!"

--

* * *

That night, after Alice and I had checked on Rosalie, bringing her ice cream to make her feel better, which we all at while watching a romantic movie, Alice went to Jasper's and I went back to my room. It wasn't long after I'd crawled under my covers that Edward came in and joined me.

"Goodnight Bella," I heard him whisper as I drifted off to sleep. I think I responded but I couldn't be sure.

The next morning, I awoke early, wondering why the alarm clock hadn't gone off, but then I realized I didn't have practice this morning, so I snuggled back into Edward's embrace. He was still fast asleep, his face peaceful and angelic.

I smiled as I watched him sleep. His chest rose and fell with each steady breath. His eyelids glistened in the dim light of the early hour as the sun rose, taking away the darkness of the night. I brushed a gentle finger across his face, removing a strand of bronze hair from his eyes and pushing it back.

The emotion rose in me, filling me to the brim with a warmth that I could easily identify and didn't feel the need to hold back any longer. Just being this close to him was perfect. He was perfect. And by some miracle, he wanted me. The thoughts floated happily in my head as I gazed tenderly at his sleeping form.

And then the words finally came. "I love you," I whispered to him. I didn't expect him to hear me, because, of course, he was asleep. But the three significant words came to me, allowing me to voice them out loud and I was grateful.

But to my surprise, Edward stirred, then opened his eyes, slowly. He looked at me with a slight smile on his face, then his eyes opened a little wider, as realization hit him. His smile grew suddenly wider and more pronounced. A blissfully happy expression settled on his angelic face; he brought his hand up to the back of my neck and gently brought is lips to mine for a sweet kiss.

As our lips broke apart, I put my arms around his neck and hugged him close, he responded by rubbing my back. "I love you too," He whispered, his mouth right above my ear.

"I'm sorry it took so long for me to admit."

I felt him smile, "Don't be sorry. I didn't want you to rush into consciously saying it."

I smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thank you." He simply nodded.

But then his words registered into my head. "Wait a minute." I said, pulling away, "What do you mean by _'consciously'_ saying it?"

He smirked, raising his eyebrows. "Well… I suppose _technically_ that isn't the first time you've ever said it." His smile grew more pronounced at the questioning look on my face. "You tend to talk in your sleep."

I gasped and felt my face turn into a deep crimson color. Edward just chuckled and kissed my forehead. "Don't be embarrassed Bella, I dream about you too, more often than I'd like to admit." His lips moved to mine as he kissed me once more, "I can't put into words how happy you've made me this morning. It was the perfect way to wake up." He pulled me closer buried his face in my hair.

I smiled, blushing again. His words eased my slight embarrassment. I wondered how many times I'd said it without realizing it. _Oh well,_ I thought. I suppose it didn't matter now anyway. "I love you," I said once more.

"I love you too." He placed a kiss on the top of my head and we both lay in bed, falling back asleep for a little while longer before the day officially began.

**--**

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it! Merry Christmas everyone!**


	35. Anniversary Surprise

**First of all, let me start off by apologizing for making you wait so long for an update. Writer's block is really the worst and even more so when you know what to say but can't put it into words. Thank you to vjgm for her expert help, if it weren't for her there would be no update!**

**I checked my stats again and it makes me so happy that so many of actually enjoy this story so much. Thank you all :) **

**By the way, I still don't own the characters **

* * *

"Bella, come on in," Jasper said with a smile as he opened the door to his apartment for me. 

"Hey Jasper," I said as I stepped through the door and into his living room. "Is Alice ready?"

He nodded, "Almost, I think. I can't believe she talked you into shopping again." He joked with me, "I thought you made her promise no more for at least a month. What happened?"

I groaned, "We promised we'd help Emmett out with his surprise for Rosalie and we need something specific. But Alice did promise not to pick anything out for me this trip."

He looked at me skeptically, "Yeah… good luck with that."

I sighed knowing he was probably right. Alice had a knack for finding items I just _had_ to have on no matter what we were shopping for. I vaguely remember an incident in a sporting goods store where it took half an hour to convince her that my soccer practice clothes didn't ever go 'out of season' and that it certainly was _not_ necessary to have a matching pair of cleats for each of my different work out outfits.

Today, however, we were on a mission; Emmett had a big surprise planned for Rosalie and he needed our help. When he first told us about it, we were taken aback by how romantic it all was and we couldn't stop beaming at him. Honestly, I knew Emmett was a great guy underneath all the jokes but I never knew he could be so sweet. That is a trait him and his brother definitely share. Anyhow, Alice and I immediately agreed to help him in whatever he needed so today we were off to get something extra special for Rosalie.

"Hey!" Alice said as she came into the living room, "I invited Melanie to go with us, is that cool? She's on the search for a formal outfit also."

"Sounds good to me. Does she need us to pick her up?"

"Not really, she lives in this building too so she said she'd come up as soon as she was ready. She should be here soon."

"Cool. What is she dressing up for?"

Alice shrugged, "I don't know, one thing or another, I'm sure." I thought it was strange for her not to go into detail over a formal event. Usually she's crazy about that sort of thing. She probably just doesn't know.

We weren't waiting long before there was a knock on the door; Melanie was standing in on the other side when Jasper answered it carrying a bulging school bag on her shoulder. "Hey! Sorry I'm late but my class ran late," she said as she dragged her bag into the apartment.

"No worries, I just got here myself," I reassured her as she dropped it next to the couch.

"Just let me grab my wallet." But as she zipped the bag open, a cluster of items came tumbling out. "Damn," She said tried to grab at the stuff as it came spilling out.

"Mel wouldn't it be easier to _not_ carry everything you own to class?" Jasper asked sarcastically.

"Ha ha. It just so happens that I need three textbooks for this one class and, on top of that, I'm working on my senior project too." She explained as I helped her pick up her items.

I handed her back a bottle of ink and a large black folder. "Aren't you afraid this thing will burst in there with all that stuff?" I asked referring to the tiny ink bottle. "You know you can find pens that already have ink in them you know?" I joked.

"Yea well…" Melanie gave a nervous little laugh and stuffed the items quickly back in her bag except for the black folder which she handed to Jasper. It seemed a little weird to me that a senior would ask a sophomore to check her papers for her … whatever. That was their business, it isn't my place to pry into it.

Jasper took it quickly then turned around toward us, his hands casually behind his back with the folder in them. "Mel, these guys are looking for a place for next year and I told them you might be able to help since you're moving out."

"Oh yea! My roommate and I are both graduating so if you guys wanted to take over the lease we'd be more than happy to sign it over to you. It looks pretty much exactly like this one." She looked around at the , "except … well … _girlier_. Seriously Jasper, you may as well have a zebra print carpet and mirrors on the ceiling."

"Hey! Leave my bachelor pad alone," he joked as Alice and I chuckled.

"Seriously, though Melanie, you think we could take your place for next year?" Alice asked her. I liked the idea of living here. From all the time we spent at Jasper's this building had become a second home. It looked really nice, both outside and in, and it was very close to the architecture building which was perfect for me.

"Sure, you can come take a look at it if you want. It's only a couple floors away."

"OK!" Alice nodded excitedly, "But _after_ we go shopping."

I sighed listlessly, "Fine, let's just get this over with."

"Bella!" Alice whined after she pecked Jasper on the lips and made her way out the door, "This is going to be fun! We're on a mission!"

"Yes but please keep in mind that this mission is for Rose and not for me." I pleaded as her and Mel led me out of the apartment, forcing me into yet another trip to a store. And for _dresses_ no less; as if _I'd_ ever had use for a dress.

She just rolled her eyes, "Bella as long as you insist on wearing hoodies practically 24/7, I will _always_ be on a mission for you."

--

* * *

"I hate you both!" Rosalie spat at us from the back seat of my car. Alice rolled her eyes at her in the rear view mirror.

I just turned in my seat and shook my head at her. "Why do _you_ get to be the angry one? _I'm_ the one that got kicked in the stomach."

"Well if you would have let go of me when I asked then maybe you could've avoided a painful interaction with my foot!" She snapped.

"How else were we supposed to get you out of your room? You've been holed up in there for days!" Alice countered.

"Well _excuse_ me for being angry at my stupid boyfriend. I don't feel like going out. No matter where you take me, I'm not going to have any fun so you may as well just take me back."

I shook my head simply, "Nope." We ignored her and continued to follow the directions given to us by Emmett which were practically illegible. I had copied them down in a hurry, which on a second thought might not have been a good idea. Especially since Alice was driving and I was supposed to navigate.

My shopping trip with Alice and Melanie had gone exactly as I'd expected it would; horribly. We were _supposed_ to have been looking for an appropriate dress for Rosalie to wear on her surprise date with Emmett, and for one Melanie could wear for something she said she was doing later in the year, but Alice and Mel ganged up on me and forced me into 12 different dresses. Yes that's right, 12! You know what, next time I'm just going to hire a bodyguard to come with me. A big burly one with a Hulk Hogan mustache … and tattoos. Maybe then they'll back off...

"Bella!" Alice yelled, snapping me out of me haze.

"Huh? What?"

She laughed, "Where do I go next?"

"Oh!' I looked down at my scribbled instructions and read the next line, not really paying attention to what I was doing, "beer a lift on Grunt Ave." … wait that didn't sound right…

She looked at me skeptically, "Huh?"

"Woops, I mean bear a left on Grant Ave."

"Bells, it's your own writing! That is just sad." She laughed. I stuck my tongue out and giggled.

Rosalie muttered some angry incomprehensible babble under her breath as we drove far and past the campus borders and the adjacent town. "Where the heck are we going anyway?" She asked, her curiosity finally getting the better of her.

"To a hospital," I responded, "I think your foot caused some internal bleeding in my stomach."

"Good," she muttered. I looked back to shoot her a mockingly angry glare as she crossed her arms grumpily across her chest and settled back against the seat.

Alice's cell phone rang, interrupting Rosalie's fuming. "Hey," She said as she picked it up. "Yep… We're almost there. … Which street do we turn on again? … No Bella can't read her own chicken scratch handwriting … OK, got it. See you soon."

"Who was that?" Snapped Rosalie.

"None of your business." Alice responded without missing a beat.

"It better not be my inconsiderate boyfriend."

Alice ignored her and turned the street. In the distance were a few small buildings and a couple large warehouse type structures. It looked like a very small private airport surrounded by a little gate which had a security booth at the entrance.

"Good afternoon ladies," smiled the security guard once we reached the booth.

"Hello," Alice smiled sweetly at him, "We're meeting someone here. There's a reservation by the name of Cullen."

"Ahh yes," he said, looking at a clipboard, "The first of your party has already arrived. Have fun."

"Thank you." Alice and I responded as she drove forward into a parking lot and parked next to the shiny silver Volvo Edward and Emmett shared while at school.

"Where the hell are we?" Rosalie said, sounding utterly confused and agitated.

I spun around and beamed at her confused expression. "You'll see." Once the car was parked I stepped out, grabbing the large black bag with the dress and other necessities as Emmett came out of one of the small buildings following another man with a thick headset on.

Emmett was holding three red roses and was dressed in an immaculate black tuxedo. He only had eyes for Rosalie who was standing flabbergasted against my SUV. "What is going on?" she asked him when he had reached her. He simply grinned, took her hand and led her behind the first small building, Alice and I linked arms and followed at their heels. There, sitting there waiting for them was a private helicopter in which the man with the headset was already climbing into the pilot's seat.

"Rose, honey," he said softly when he heard her gasp. Alice and I had stepped to the side to watch the scene unfold. We were grinning madly at the two of them. "Happy anniversary." He turned to her, smiling.

Rosalie had brought both her hands to her face, covering her mouth in shock. Her eyes were wide. "Emmett…" she whispered in disbelief when she regained part of her composure. "When did you...?" The question trailed off as her emotions took over.

"About two weeks ago." He responded, kissing her cheek. "The helicopter is taking us to a special place for dinner and a limo will pick us up from there to take us dancing."

Her eyes widened even more, "Oh my… Emmett, I … wait, two weeks? So then… you didn't forget?"

He laughed, "Nope."

Rosalie rounded on me and Alice. "You two knew and you didn't tell me?!"

We just shrugged innocently, smiling at her.

She shook her head and laughed before turning back to Emmett. "I can't believe this!"

He took the three red roses in his hand and handed them to her. "One for each year that you've made me the luckiest guy alive." And I felt my heart melt as he gazed intensely at her. "I love you so much Rosalie. Happy anniversary."

I could see the emotion radiating from Rose's eyes as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him deeply. I turned away with Alice to let them have this moment in private. Alice, however, got impatient after a few minutes and cleared her throat loudly. "OK, well, you have to leave soon. But first, Rosalie, you have to change."

"Hmm," She mumbled, her lips still glued to Emmett's.

"Oh give them a second Alice, it's so sweet!" I said grinning. They were really made for each other. My heart burst at seeing Rose so happy, especially after she'd been so miserable.

We waited patiently for them to break apart. And when that didn't happen on its own, Alice and I took matters into our own hands, pulling them apart.

"Come on, Rose, you can't go in what you're wearing now."

"Huh?" She said, clearly still lightheaded from their kiss.

"You. Change. Clothes. Now." Alice dumbed it down for her before turning to me with a mocking tone, "blondes… I'm tellin' ya …"

"Hey!" Rosalie finally snapped out of her haze.

"Just kidding!"

"I didn't bring anything to change into…" She almost looked worried for a second.

I smiled at her, "No worries, we did." I held up the black bag Alice had packed as we pulled Rosalie away from Emmett and dragged her back into the small building where there was a bathroom for her to change in.

After about fifteen minutes of speedy primping, Rosalie stepped back outside looking drop dead gorgeous. She had on a tight dress with a plunging neckline and an open back in her signature color; red. Her blonde hair was elegantly styled, part of it cascading down her back. Emmett's jaw dropped when he saw her. Alice beamed at his reaction; it was exactly the effect she was going for when she'd picked out the dress earlier that week.

"You look…" Emmett began, but he seemed to have lost his words, "incredible. There's just no other word," his eyes were locked with hers; "You're incredible." He kissed her passionately again, lacing his fingers in the waves of her hair while pulling her closer to him. When they finally broke apart, he turned to both of us. "Thanks guys, I couldn't have done it without you." He came over and hugged us each.

"No problem." I said as I hugged him back and then went to hug Rosalie. "Have fun tonight."

--

* * *

**Thank you so much to vjgm for helping get this chapter out and the next one. And thank you all so much for reading!**


	36. Lost

Alice and I watched them take off and then climbed back into the car ready for our trip home. It was almost dark out and I had a feeling we'd need as much clarity with the state my directions were in.

"OK so we just follow the directions in reverse, right?" Alice said, grabbing the paper and reading over it. "So we go turn on Charleston and then go straight on Grant …" she read out loud.

"I'm impressed, Alice," I said, looking at the paper over her shoulders, "even _I_ couldn't tell what that word was and I wrote the thing."

She just shook her head and chuckled, "Why don't we switch. You drive and I'll read? It'll be night soon and I'd hate to have you try to decipher that in the dark."

I stuck my tongue out at her, laughed and nodded, climbing out of the car and into the driver's seat while Alice switched seats without getting out of the car. We buckled our seatbelts, turned the radio to a good station and began our journey back.

But, of course, half an hour later we were completely lost.

"OK, so make left on this street and it should take you back to the main road," Alice said.

"Are you sure? That's what you said the last time."

"Positive."

I followed her instructions and found myself at another dead end. "Okay, so when you said 'positive' what you really meant was 'I have no idea', right?"

Alice brought one hand up to scratch her head as she looked around at the street signs. "I could've sworn ... oh well. We're going to have to get out and ask someone, I think."

"Where? We're on residential streets and I don't see anyone outside."

"It's so dark here. You'd think they'd never heard of streetlights."

"This place is a little creepy at night…" I said as I looked around at the very rural surroundings. The town was old and the homes were all made of stone with vast yards that went into the woods. There were trees everywhere. It was very pretty during the day but at night …

"Alright, well we can't let our fears get the better of us. Why don't we try to follow our path backwards. That should lead us somewhere…" but she didn't sound too sure of that either.

A few minutes later we were at a seemingly deserted gas station. "Is it open?" I whispered to Alice.

"I don't know…" she whispered back. "Should I go check?"

"No… what if there are people in there?"

She turned and looked at me like I was insane, "Then we ask for directions, dummy!"

I couldn't help but give a little snort of laughter, "No! Not normal people, I mean what if there are weird people in there?"

"What like MOLE PEOPLE?!" She screeched and looked back at the gas station in sheer fascination.

I threw my head back and laughed, "Never mind, silly, let's just both go in and ask."

We climbed out of the car and went inside to find a weird older man with a balding head and a gas station uniform staring at a magazine. He threw it aside quickly when he heard the bell attached to the door jingle and stood up, ready to serve. "Whacanna do fer ya lehdies?" He spoke at lighting speed in the weirdest accent I had ever heard. It was almost indecipherable.

"Actually, sir, we were wondering if you could tell us how to get back onto the main road?" I asked as politely and slowly as I could, not knowing if this guy really knew how to speak english.

He smiled a very friendly, toothy grin and nodded, "Sherthing therra gals, yajustake defirsstree rawght thir n' din turn innaBlassahroad n' gotilyagettatooafork…" he kept babbling but my mind couldn't keep track of what he was saying. I turned to Alice to see if she could understand a word of it. She was just nodding along, eyes wide and her mouth half open in confusion. I turned back to him to see that he was still talking a mile a minute. When he finally got to the end of his explanation he smiled again at us, "Got dat lehdies?"

Alice and I looked at each other, bit our lips to stop from laughing and turned back to him with kind smiles. "Yep. Thank you sir!"

Once we waved goodbye and got back in the car, Alice turned to me as I started the ignition. "Did you get any of that?"

"Nope."

"Okay, just checking."

"I told you there would be weird people in there!"

"Well at least he wasn't a mole person!"

"Are you sure? What do mole people look like? And what language do they speak because_that_ definitely wasn't english."

"Nah mole-people-eese must have a lot of grunting involved since they live underground." Alice said chuckling, "He sounded more like he was speaking in tongues, didn't he?"

"Tongues? What tongues? He sounded like he didn't have a tongue!"

Alice started giggling and I joined soon after. In seconds we were both cracking up loudly in the car and wiping tears from our eyes.

"Oh crap, Bella! He's looking out the window!" She said suddenly controlling her laughter and staring at the window of the gas station. "I think he's coming out here!"

"Oh no! What do I do?"

"Go, go, go!"

I forced the car into the right gear and stomped on the gas, not taking my foot off of it until the gas station disappeared behind us. Minutes later we were stopped at an intersection, somewhere miles away from our destination. I sighed and looked at Alice. "There's only one thing left to do now, I think."

She sighed too in defeat. "I guess. Okay then, here goes nothing." She pulled out her pink sparkly cell phone, dialed quickly and put the phone to her ear while waiting for the other person to pick up. "Hey Jasper … we have a problem …"

--

* * *

Forty-five minutes later we saw Jasper's car pull up behind us. Alice jumped out and ran to him while my attention went directly to the gorgeous guy coming out of the passenger side. I hopped out and went happily into Edward's arms. "Thank you for rescuing us."

He laughed and hugged me tight, "Not a problem. May I ask how on earth the two of you wound up out here? You couldn't be farther away from campus."

I rolled my eyes. "How about we tell you that story on the way home?"

"I have a better idea," Jasper said, "There's a really good sushi place on the way back. How about you tell us all about your little adventure over dinner?"

"Sounds good!" Alice squealed as she bounced into the passenger seat of his car.

Edward took my keys from me and kissed my cheek. "How about you let me drive?"

I'd had more than enough driving by that point. "Gladly."

An hour later we were all seated around a large table at a Japanese steakhouse where the chef had just finished cooking for us right at our table and performing really cool tricks. Jasper and Edward were laughing uncontrollably when we told them about the mole person at the gas station.

"Why didn't you just tell him you didn't understand what he said?" asked Jasper.

"Because he looked so friendly and we didn't want to seem ungrateful!"

"And," Alice interjected, "what if he began with that whole speech again? If I'd had to listen to that a second time, I'd have gone nuts!"

Edward shook his head and put his arm around me. "Well, nevertheless, I'm glad you girls are alright." I kissed his cheek.

"I'm getting you a navigational system for your birthday," Jasper said to Alice.

"In pink?!" She squealed.

"Of course."

The night turned out to be incredibly enjoyable. We spent a long time talking and laughing about the most random things. The food was delicious and I was so stuffed to the brim that I couldn't take another bite, but the boys insisted on getting a bunch few different desserts anyway.

"This one is way better than chocolate one," I said, feeding a spoonful to Edward.

He shook his head, smiling, "I still say the mousse thing is best."

Once we finished our dessert and tea, Edward and Jasper left a few large bills on the table and we left. I must've fallen asleep on the ride back because the next thing I knew, I was being gently woken up by Edward's soft lips on my own. "Bella," he said between kisses, "We're back."

Sleepily, I made my way into my dorm and immediately went to the bathroom to change into my pajamas. By the time I had climbed back into bed, Edward had come back down from his room in his PJs also and he got into bed with me. "Thank you again for the rescue," I murmured.

"Anytime."

I put my arms around him, pulling myself closer into him. "I love you."

I felt his lips turn into a smile against the skin below my ear, where he then placed a soft kiss. "I love you too."

--


	37. April Fool's Day Jitters

The days after her anniversary surprise Rosalie was still blissfully happy. She wandered around with a huge grin on her face everywhere she went, which when added to her already astounding beauty only made people stare more. Finally, after seeing yet another guy walk into a stationary wall Jasper, apparently, had finally decided to deliver some kind of bad news in order to stop his sister from blinding any more poor unsuspecting pedestrians with her perfect smile.

"So I think I might go away for April fool's day this year," he said casually as we walked towards the dining hall.

Alice, Rosalie and Edward stopped dead in their tracks, wide eyed and clearly spooked. I looked at the three of them with confused looks, "Am I missing something?"

"No no no no no…" Alice chanted in a low, frightened voice.

Edward brought his face into his hands and shook his head.

Rosalie's face was contorted into a look of pure terror with her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, obviously doing some kind of math in her head. "Today is the 28th … Oh. My. Gosh. But that only gives us four days!" She slapped her hand to her forehead with worry.

"OK, don't panic. No panicking!" Alice sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else.

"What's the big deal? It's just a joke holiday. It's not like anyone takes it seriously." I pointed out resuming our walk. My friends followed in a skeptic silence. "Will someone please explain the sudden 'world-is-ending" attitude because I'm beginning to think I may have to have you all committed!"

Edward closed his eyes and spoke with a pained look on his beautiful face. "Emmett."

"What about Emmett?"

But Rosalie didn't seem to be able to continue so Alice did it for her. "April Fool's day is only four days away. It just snuck up on us. How did I not prepare?"

"Prepare for what?"

"For Emmett!"

"What about Emmett?!" My frustration at not being able to piece together what they were telling me had taken over.

"Bella," Jasper spoke, his voice was calm, "We've known Emmett for a long time. April fool's day is like… his Christmas."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "I still don't understand. So what? He acknowledges the holiday. What's the big deal? It's just a few practical jokes."

All four of them snorted humorlessly. "That's what you'd like to think."

"Oh, come on!" I laughed at their thoroughly unhappy faces, "What's the worst he could do?"

Alice's hands balled into fists at her side and she muttered a few unintelligible sounds under her breath before finally speaking out loud, "Well let's see… when I was in eighth grade Emmett replaced my bike with an identical one. Except this replica had one fatal flaw… It was cut in half! Unfortunately for me, he welded it back together so it would come apart while I was riding it. So here I am, riding along my neighborhood to go meet some friends… _downhill_, might I add, when suddenly the front half of my bike separates itself from the back. Still not knowing exactly what was happening, I stupidly pedal faster, making the back half of my bike move forward, catching up to the front, but of course, my arms push the front further away. After another minute, the two halves have separated as far as my body would allow with my hands grasping the damn handlebars as I was stretched across trying to hold on to both halves, screaming at the top of my lungs as the two parts sped downhill!"

I coughed back a laugh at her story and the sudden image in my mind of tiny Alice stretched out across splitting halves of a bicycle.

"Oh, you think that's funny?" Alice snapped at me.

I cleared my throat, "No, of course not. That's …" cough, "terrible."

Alice didn't buy it for a second, "Well you might not think it was so funny if _you_ had to deal with being seen by everyone carrying two halves of a bike all the way back home."

Edward coughed this time. "I have to admit, though, that sight was pretty funn— Ow!" He stopped talking as soon as Alice's tiny yet powerful fist met his arm. "Okay, okay, it wasn't funny. Not funny at all."

"Last year was the worst that I can remember," Rosalie began.

"Yea, whatever, at least all _you_ had to do was sweet talk some kid into giving you back your underwear," Jasper rolled his eyes at her, "I was cleaning duck sauce out of my hair for hours! You know he takes it easy on you because you're his girlfriend."

Rosalie's nose flared, "It took a lot more than sweet talking to get that pimple faced boy to give me back my underwear." She turned to me to explain, "Emmett fed-exed some kid who had a crush on me all my most intimate undergarments with a note forged note from me telling him that I was in love with him and that I had sent all this to him as a sign of my undying devotion to him."

I couldn't hold my laughter back anymore. "Did you ever get it back?" I choked out between laughs.

"Of course not. The idiot was convinced it was all true and decided to reciprocate by sending me a box of his underwear in return, with a note saying _'My love for you will never fade away'_." She closed her eyes at the memory, "Apparently the skid mark stains on his tighty whities wouldn't fade away either."

We all cracked up at that. Edward was shaking uncontrollably and Alice and I were wiping tears from our eyes. After a minute or two, a smile broke through Rosalie's seemingly angry face and she laughed too.

As we reached the doors of the dining hall, our laughter was finally subsiding. "I don't want to deal with it again this year. I'm going away for a few days." Jasper held the door open for the rest of us as we entered.

"Won't work, Jazz." Alice told him, "He'll just get you when you come back."

Edward cut in as we made our way to the line, "We tried not being around for the day once when we were kids. Alice and I went on a camping trip with some friends in middle school just to make sure we were away for that day. He put itching powder in our sleeping bags, rock in our backpacks and salt water in our cantines."

I mulled over the odds of not being part of Emmett's April Fool's day targets as I got food and went to our usual table. I had to admit they weren't good. "Did you ever think of talking to him—"

"Tried it. Didn't work."

"Are you sure, maybe if we stage an intervention—"

"Nope. Did that too. Didn't work."

We chewed in silence for a while. "Did you ever try to retaliate?"

Alice shook her head. "Edward and I tried once when we were kids but he's always one step ahead. You don't understand, Bella, this isn't just a joke holiday. Emmett looks forward to this day more than most people look forward to birthdays. He's a master at it. There's no way of getting him."

I looked around at their faces in disbelief. "Are you seriously telling me that between the five of us we can't come up with one little plan to get at Emmett? I mean, come on, we've got the resources, you guys have all known him forever, so you know his fears, Edward, you live with him, so it's not like we don't have access to him or his stuff, and Rosalie you have ways of distracting him that are guaranteed to work."

"Ways?" she looked up with a confused look. I raised an eyebrow at her suggestively. She got the hint and laughed, nodding at me. "Oh _ways_. I see. Yes that is true."

My strong desire to avoid being one of Emmett's victims overpowered my common sense. First of all, I've never played a practical joke on anyone before, second of all I had other things on my mind these days. Soon my friends were nodding along. "Actually, Bella, that's a really good idea." Alice pointed out.

"Thank you. I can't believe it never occurred to you to fight back."

"It did… its just that the thought of him being harder on us because of it occurred to me too."

"So what do we do?" Rosalie asked. I shrugged in response.

"Well we can't have him thinking we're up to something," Edward furrowed his brows in concentration as he spoke, "We have to act like nothing is up. Rosalie, keep letting him think you're still all blissful over the anniversary thing, that should keep him satisfied. When we decide to put a plan into action you'll need to be the one who distracts him. It'll be a lot easier to convince him you're not up to something if he thinks you're still all ecstatic towards him."

"Sounds easy enough."

As we finished dinner we went through the possible ways to get at Emmett, occasionally cracking up at the more ridiculous ideas. When we finished, Alice and Rose went back to Jasper's apartment and Edward and I headed back to the dorms.

"So you girls might get actually an apartment in Jasper's building next year?" Edward said as we walked up to Mason Hall with our hands linked together.

"Yep. Why is it unlikely?"

"No, but it fills up quickly. Usually the way to get in there is to have someone turn the lease over to you."

"Melanie is doing that for us. I do like the idea of having my own room, that way Alice won't be able to pick out my outfits as often."

Edward chuckled, "Believe me, she'll still find a way to do it."

"I don't doubt that." I sighed.

"Is something wrong?"

"No…" but the look in his eyes told me he didn't believe me. "It's just that … I don't know. I got really used to having you live right upstairs. Its going to be weird not having that proximity anymore."

Edward let go of my hand and put his arm around my waist as we walked, "I know what you mean. But there may be a solution to that."

My eyes excitedly met his, "I'm all ears."

"We know quite a few people graduating who would be happy to sign their leases over to Emmett and me. So perhaps we'll have similar living arrangements next year also."

I couldn't stop a delighted smile from spreading across my face, "Seriously?"

"Of course." He smiled right back at me, obviously pleased by my reaction. We stopped in our tracks for a moment as he lifted a finger to my chin, bringing my face to his for a long, sweet, lingering kiss. After a what seemed like a blissful eternity, we broke apart and he smiled crookedly up at me.

There was a cool breeze which made me shiver; it'd been nice out all day so I didn't think to take a jacket with me. Without hesitation, Edward shrugged off his jacket and placed it around my shoulders.

"Thank you." The scent of his warm jacket was delicious, it smelled just like him.

He smiled and led me towards the dormitory once again, "Anything for you."

I felt my face blush at his words and he grinned at my reaction. "So what is Emmett up to? Why didn't he meet us for dinner today?"

Edward rolled his eyes. "He _says_ he has to study but I highly doubt that. Most likely he's readying his pranks for April Fool's day."

"Wow, it must be important. I've never seen Emmett miss a meal."

Edward chuckled. "You have no idea Bella. Trust me, this holiday is not to be taken lightly when you are friends with Emmett."

"How long has this been going on?"

Edward paused to think for a minute, "I think he started when he was around 8 years old. It was simple things back then; switching the salt and the sugar containers, whoopee cushions … that sort of thing. By the following year it was gum on the seats and stink bombs at school. By the time Alice and I were done middle school it had become a full-on elaborate plan of attack on everyone he knew. He even got the librarian one day when he sent her a fake love letter from the principal. Then he watched while the poor old dear invited him over her house for dinner and he went to her house to watch the drama unfold. The old lady sent her husband away, made a romantic dinner for two and dressed up for the occasion." Edward closed his eyes and shook his head at the memory.

"Aw, she dressed up for him? That's kind of cute."

"Not the way she did it," his tone full of implications.

I scrunched my nose in disgust as the image of an old librarian wearing weird old-lady lingerie popped into my head. "Ew! Gross mental picture!"

"Yea. Well that isn't the worst of it. The principal of our school shows up to this lady's house … _with his family!_ He brought with him his wife and five year old son and she answers the door in nothing but a bathrobe and a cane."

I gasped… then laughed uncontrollably. "I'm sorry … I know its wrong but that's just too funny!"

Edward laughed too, "She quit the next day."

"Oh my gosh! Did Emmett get in trouble?"

"Nah. People suspected him but they couldn't prove he did it. He only admitted it to me and Alice and we weren't about to tell my parents. They would've killed him."

I was holding my sides from laughing so hard, "Poor old lady."

Edward shrugged, "Now do you see why we take it so seriously?" I just nodded my head. "So do you have any ideas as how to get him yet?"

I considered that for a moment before an idea finally struck me. "Actually … I may have one …"

--

* * *

That night I returned from Edward's room late and I had barely gotten my pajamas on when I noticed another parchment envelope on my desk. I squealed with excitement, my sleepiness melting away as I sprang forward to get it, hastily opening the envelope and pulling out the crisp parchment paper with familiar elegant black calligraphy. 

_Dear 'Bella', _I chuckled as I read my name in quotes, remembering our last meet and laughing at their little joke.

_How cunning are you?_

_Previous missions have required your wit and daring, as will another approaching assignment of ours. There is, however, one advantage you have always had, and may have taken for granted which will not be available to you during this particular undertaking. Can you guess what it is? We have always thrust upon you the importance of our anonymity and you have done well in protecting it. However, on an upcoming challenge doing so will not be so simple. Thus far you have always had the cover of night in which to hide. We wonder, can you be discreet in broad daylight?_

_As always, we have another item for you to discover. Clues as to what it is are below. We will contact you again in regards to the time and place of which it is to take place._

_-_

_In the Past you were young_

_In the Future you'll be old _

_In the present you may question_

_That which you are told._

_- _

_But there is one factor_

_Which forever is progressing._

_Have you figured it out yet,_

_Or shall we keep you guessing?_

_- _

_It is that which moves forward_

_And always stays unchanged,_

_Nothing affects it_

_Yet it leaves nothing the same._

_- _

_We all have it,_

_Some more, some less,_

_Never realizing how little of it_

_We actually possess._

_--  
_

_Until we meet again, Bella._

_Sincerely,_

_-ŤŁ-_

_--_

* * *

**And another riddle. Can you figure out what it is? **

**I'm not entirely happy with this but now that I've gotten these things out, I can focus on the rest of the stuff. These last couple of chapters were just one big hurdle I had to get over. Now I can get down to some more stuff I might be a bit more confident about. Sorry if it isn't great and, of course, thank you for reading :)**


	38. Night Without Sleep

**Thank you so much for all the amazing reviews! I love you guys.**

** I must warn you, though, some parts of this chapter are rated M. I'm sorry if that inconveniences anyone.**

* * *

I spent a long time analyzing the letter, the crisp beige parchment paper folded neatly into thirds; not really looking for the answer to the riddle itself, but perhaps something beyond that. I had so many questions and my suspicions lately were surmounting. There was something … something I wasn't seeing clearly … something a part of my brain was screaming at me to figure out … but what? 

That smart thing to do is to work out the riddle now, I suppose so that is what I did. Once again I went to my desk with a little note pad and pen and sat down rereading the entire letter.

_In the Past you were young_ … I read over the first few lines. They dealt with past, present and future … all elements of time.

Time.

That fit. _It is that which moves forward yet always stay unchanged_ … _nothing affects in yet it leaves nothing the same_. Definitely it's time. So what then? I have to find time? Time to do what, though?

_Thus far you have always had the cover of night in which to hide. We wonder, can you be discreet in broad daylight?_

I frowned as I read that part over again. The obvious answer was that I would have to go somewhere during the day and find something. But it couldn't be … imagine me trying to climb over the locked gate in the Cathedral building in broad daylight… ridiculous. I'd had to drag a table and a chair over to the damn thing just to be able to get over it, I'd get caught if I'd done it during the day while it was open.

But upon second thought, I realized there must be something missing. _Anonymity is key_, they'd drilled that fact securely into my head so I didn't think they'd risk their secrecy on me.

So I was going to have to find time during the day. OK then.

It makes absolutely no sense.

I was just about to get up and put the letter away with all the others when I read over the last few lines of the riddle;

_We all have it_

_Some more, some less_

_Never realizing how little of it_

_We actually possess_

The words themselves clearly held deeper meaning, underlining the knowledge of the ages they held onto desperately; life is short. But it wasn't the depth behind the meaning that caught my attention. No, it was the words themselves.

Under the last S on the word 'possess', there was the tiniest, almost insignificant little smudge. It mirrored a random one earlier in the letter, as though someone had folded it up without letting the ink dry completely…

And I felt my heart beating loudly with a sudden realization … _whoever wrote this one must've been in some kind of a hurry_, I thought to myself. The people who write these letters are human, and of courses they are prone to mistakes like the rest of us, so whoever did the actual writing hadn't let the ink from the calligraphy dry enough.

My mind instantly wandered back to Jasper's apartment a few days ago … the folder Melanie handed Jasper, and more importantly the ink bottle that fell out of her bag.

It couldn't be …

My heart raced as my mind began to put together pieces of an extraordinary puzzle. Who carries an ink bottle around with them? It had to be her. But that means that Jasper is in on it too. It is completely possible that the folder she handed to him contained the very same letter I have in my hands at this moment. It would make sense since Jasper is over our place all the time. He could certainly have dropped it off here. And he was connected to the one person I certainly suspected more than anyone else; Joshua. Josh's family was connected to mine, his grandfather and my grandmother were best friends and she'd been the matron of honor at his wedding. He would know of her and her last name and her history.

I let my thoughts wander back to the beginning of the year at school when I was first introduced to him. How strange his reaction had been to my grandmother's last name. He had to be involved. It made perfect sense. Adrenaline pulsed through me as I put together these pieces of the puzzle. Melanie was Joshua's girlfriend. Both of them were in the League. I thought back to the masked ball a few months ago…

The small ornate room with the large round wooden table. The room that I entered when I left the ballroom with a few other people… four men in coat and tails and one girl in a very pretty ball gown. It was the day I became aware of exactly what I was getting into. The day I had felt more connected to my little family mystery than ever. The day I discovered the letter from my grandmother. I was so happy that night; despite all the mysteries and the fact that I knew no one in there, I'd felt safe and happy and just a little bit scared but not in a bad way. They had known me so well. They'd seemingly known absolutely everything about me. They had given me exactly what I was looking for and yet I'd known nothing about them.

But maybe I did. Maybe I'd known about them all along… or at least about some of them. Joshua was an upperclassman and he'd known about me from the beginning. If Melanie was in the League then he definitely was, and he was probably some kind of leader.

Wasn't he?

There were so many thoughts circling in my head that I couldn't think straight. I could barely make sense of it all. It was all too much right now and I was tired. With my weariness I probably wasn't thinking straight at this moment anyway. I decided not to jump to conclusions until I had actually proof. I put the letter away with all the others in the long midnight blue rectangular box hidden in my drawer under layers of folded clothes and went to bed. I'd figure it all out in the morning.

I lay in my bed, my back against my soft aquamarine jersey flannel sheets, my head resting on my pillow … I was perfectly comfortable. But sleep did not invade me. All that I saw when I closed my eyes were puzzle pieces. Dozens upon dozens of puzzle pieces in various forms of clarity, most within my reach… all I had to do was grab them.

And I would.

Soon.

--

* * *

I lay in bed for at least another hour, wide awake. I still couldn't shake all of suspicions but I had to find someway of getting rest or else I'd be a walking zombie all day tomorrow. So I did the only thing I could think of that would instantly relax me. 

I got up from my bed and went to the bathroom to wash my face and freshen up a little before throwing on some flip-flops, grabbing my key and my cell phone and heading out of my dorm. I made my way carefully upstairs and to Edward's dorm, praying that the door would be unlocked still.

Lucky for me, it still was.

The room was empty except for Edward, who was curled up on his bed, the covers only covering half his body and his one arm draped lazily over the side of the bed. Smiling at the site of him, I kicked off my flip-flops, threw my keys and cell down on his bed side table and climbed into bed with him as quietly as I could. Gingerly, I lifted his arm up so I could snuggle under it as I positioned myself on his bed.

He didn't start to stir until I was almost in a perfectly comfortable spot, my head sharing a bit of his pillow, our faces inches apart. All previous thoughts fell out of my head as I set eyes on his perfectly serene face; his lips were in the most adorable little pout. I kissed them gently and closed my eyes, already feeling relaxed and ready for bed.

"Bella?" I heard him whisper. Even with my eyes closed I could tell there was a smile on his face.

"Mmm hmm?"

His arm tightened around me as he pulled me closer into him, "This is a surprise."

"A good one, I hope?"

He chuckled, "A _very_ good one."

I smiled at him and gave a small shrug, "I couldn't sleep."

Edward brought one hand up to the back of my head, right above my neck, tangling his fingers in my thick, loose strands of hair and tilted my head up, giving him easier access to my lips. "Is it wrong of me to be happy about that? I'm just glad it got you up here."

I felt myself blush at his words. "It definitely isn't wrong." I closed my eyes, letting the comforting feeling of his body being so close to mine take over.

His voice turned mocking, "And what makes you think I'm just going to let you sleep?" he asked with a mischievous tone in his voice.

"Oh? What did you have in mind then?"

He brought his soft lips to mine in a tender kiss, his perfect mouth parting mine, soft at first, but quickly becoming more urgent. My hands moved onto his face, bringing it harder into my own, practically welding our lips together.

I pulled away momentarily to take a breath, but he continued against my cheek, under my ear, along my jaw, under my chin and then worked his way down to my neck, placing fiery kisses along the way. I could do nothing but bring my hands to his hair, urging him to continue. And continue he did, as his hands went behind my back, one on my lower back and the other on my shoulder. A small gasp escaped from me when he pulled at my shoulder and pushed the small of my back into him, forcing me to arch so that more of my neck and chest were exposed.

I couldn't think.

I could hardly breathe.

All I could focus on were his delicious lips against my skin, leaving fiery sensations wherever they touched. Not being able to take it anymore, I brought his face back to mine, kissing him passionately as my hands moved under his t-shirt, feeling the perfect contours of his body. He moaned against me as my hands moved further up, his moans fueling the fire that was already building in me.

And suddenly I was underneath him. He was supported on top of me so that our bodies were touching but I held none of his weight. His hands ran smoothly from my neck, down to my side, over my rib cage, past my waist and settled on my hip which he held on to before gripping my thigh and hiking it up to his own hip. My hands continued to roam, moving softly against every muscle I could reach under his shirt. His skin felt so soothingly warm against mine, not overly hot or suffocating, it was just perfect. Everything about him was perfect. And I needed more. In an instant, his shirt came off and my eyes took in more of his beauty before our mouths began to move together again.

"I love you," I whispered against his lips in one of the brief moments they weren't gloriously attached to mine.

He paused and looked me right in the eyes, his expression blissful, "I love you too, Bella. More than I ever thought possible. More than I could ever put into words."

My heart swelled in my chest upon hearing his words and I became hyper-aware of the miniscule gap there was between us, and I didn't want it to exist anymore. I let my arms wrap themselves behind his neck, pulling me closer to him as he held me tightly.

Before long we had progressed to bare skin on skin. "My God you're beautiful," his voice was breathy as he spoke against my collard bone. His eyes wandered over me as his hands roamed once more. I couldn't respond … everything about him intoxicated me, his voice, his scent … I was dizzy … blissfully lost in the moment.

It was as if my body had a life of its own; with every breath, every movement and every second of pleasure, it responded to him, to his every whim, molding me against him. He would move his hands over me and I would automatically react to his touch … it was ecstasy.

"Bella…" my name escaped his lips once more.

"Mmm…" I moaned. But he was stopping … why was he stopping?

"Bella …?" He took a deep breath, clearly trying to control himself. I, in turn, placed soft kissed on his forehead while I tried to steady my breathing. "Bella … I don't …" he took another deep breath, "are you sure … that you're … I don't know if we're …"

"Sshhh…" I placed a gentle hand under his chin and lifted his face so that our eyes locked together, "I love you and I'm ready … but not if you aren't… we don't have to … I'd wait forever for you if you wanted…"

He smiled my favorite crooked grin, making my eyes glaze over and my heart melt. He didn't need to say anything … the loving look in his eyes said it all. He brought his face closer to mine and kissed me once more.

It wasn't long before we were lost in the heat of the moment once again …

--

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**You asked for more fluff ... **

** Next chapter will be up later today **

** Review Please :) **


	39. Smile!

**Sorry about the short chapter, but another will be coming up later today. At least one more today, possibly two, but I can't promise that yet. **

**Anywho, I'm glad everyone seemed to enjoy the fun moment between Edward and Bella in the last chapter. If there was any confusion, this chapter might clear things up :) Thanks for reading!**

**Stephenie Meyer owns the characters, please don't sue me.**

* * *

The next day, after my classes I went back to my dorm to shower and change before meeting up with everyone for dinner, as we always did. Alice was back from class too and was working on a project while seated on the lavender rug in our room, organizing different sketches into certain piles and scribbling notes in a note book. 

"Hey Alice." I said as I dropped my messenger bag next to my desk, kicked off my sneakers and made my way over to my wardrobe, humming happily the entire time.

"Hey Bella."

After a few minutes she spoke again. "Bella…"

"Yea?" I asked, not really paying attention to her since I was lost in my own world. But when she didn't answer me back, I looked back at her with my eye brows furrowed, only to find that she was staring at me with curious concentration. "What's up?"

She continued to stare, analyzing my face, "Something is different."

"What?"

"Why are you humming? Why are you so happy?"

I rolled my eyes at her, "Do I need a reason to be happy?"

"_That_ happy? Yes." Her face broke into a slowly spreading smile.

"What are you smiling about?"

She grinned knowingly, "I was about to ask you the same thing." She raised one eyebrow at me, smirking, "What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing!"

But of course, my immediate blush tipped her off, "Oh my gosh, Bella, it's big, isn't it?" She jumped up and beamed at me, coming over to my side of the room and pulling me to my bed where we both sat down. "What is going on? I can tell it's something big because you haven't been able to stop smiling, even this morning at breakfast you were weird... what is it?! Tell me!"

As if on cue, my smile grew even wider and I blushed furiously.

Suddenly Alice's eyes widened. "Oh. My. Gosh …" she whispered.

"What?!" I asked innocently.

"OH MY GOSH!"

"Alice, stop!"

"I haven't done anything."

"It's not what you're doing it's what you're saying."

"I haven't said anything."

"Stop looking at me like that!" My face was beet red by now and I couldn't stop grinning which was making her grin madly in return.

"How am I looking at you?" Her smile was widening by the second.

"Like you know something."

"What could I possibly know? You haven't told me anything yet."

"That's because there isn't anything to tell!"

"Uh huh," She said skeptically, raising her eyebrow at me again which made me blush some more. "I knew it! What happened?" She climbed onto her knees and started bouncing like crazy.

"Nothing, seriously… except …"

"Oh my gosh!" She interrupted me, talking super fast again, unable to contain her sudden glee, "it has to do with Edward, right? Did you—,"

"Alice will you just let _me_ tell the story?!!"

"Alright, alright, but wait." She sprang from her spot beside me and rushed to her cell phone. She punched in some numbers at top speed and waited for the person on the other line to pick up. "Rose? Where are you? OK good, come to our room right now. No, drop the kama sutra book and come over… its Bella … no she's fine … yes!" She stomped her foot impatiently "... WILL YOU JUST GET OVER HERE ALREADY!!! … Yes …" she looked back over at me and then turned back to her conversation, "…I _think_ so … oh wait, on second thought, bring the kama sutra book with you… OK see you in a few sec—," but before she could finish her sentence the door burst open and there was Rosalie, book in one hand and cell phone on the other.

Rosalie's eyes were wide and full of excitement. Without taking her eyes off me, she quickly kicked the door shut, flipped her cell phone shut and ran to my bed where she jumped into a seat next to me. "Spill!" She had the biggest, most excited grin on her face.

"Wait for me!" Alice squealed, bouncing excitedly into my bed where she and Rose sat cross-legged, waiting for me to begin a story for them.

I laughed at both of their expressions. "I don't know what you want me to tell you!"

"Well, _clearly_ you don't have to say much, that big goofy grin on your face says it all!" Rosalie stated, her smile growing bigger.

"Bella, what we mean is … did you and Edward …?" She smiled suggestively.

"Alice!" I mocked her, "I'm appalled by your insinuations… I'm a lady! I don't kiss and tell!"

They both giggled like little school girls. "Come on Bells, just tell us!" Rosalie finally pleaded, "The suspense is killing me."

In that moment a strange thought suddenly occurred to me.

"Bells…?" She trailed off, reading the distant look on my face. But something about the nickname hit me in a weird way. My parents were the only people that had ever called me Bells. It was strange to be thinking about, especially at this moment, but upon hearing it I felt a familiar sense of security … and love… which I couldn't really place.

It was then that I suddenly realized that I was indeed around family. Despite the fact that I'd only known them for a few months, Alice and Rosalie had become more than just close friends. They were my sisters and my best friends all rolled up into one neat package and they really cared about me. And it struck me as funny how I'd come to this school searching desperately for a connection to my family and that was exactly what I found, only stronger. I had gained a whole new family, one to share secrets with and private jokes. One to tell about the most intimate details of my life that I'd been dying to share but didn't feel comfortable talking about to just anyone.

"Oh my gosh, did he hurt you?!" Rosalie's nostrils flared as she misread my silence. Her reaction snapped me out of my haze.

"I'll kill him!" Alice slammed her fist into my mattress.

"NO! No, of course not." I reassured them, "Sorry, I was just having an epiphany. Anyway—,"

"An epiphany about …?" Alice looked confused, "Because if you're having an epiphany about it this long after it happened that is _not_ a good sign,"

"No!" I rolled my eyes at her, but couldn't contain a laugh, "Not about that. Oh, never mind."

"No, no, no!" They both shouted at me simultaneously, "We'll be good, just please tell us!" Their bright, expectant smiles were back. Alice was practically shaking with excitement. "Is it what we're thinking?!" she blurted out, unable to wait any longer.

I blushed deeper than ever before, biting my lip to try to contain the huge smile that was invading my face and gave a small, quiet nod.

The room suddenly erupted in shrill squeals as they hugged me and giggled happily. I couldn't help but join in, their shrieks were contagious. "OK… We want the whole story!"

"Yes, everything!" Alice bounced some more, "Except no gory details because it's my brother. But everything else!"

I took a deep breath and looked at their beaming faces, "Well what do you want to know?"

"How was it?"

"And when?!"

"And how many times?"

"And who initiated it?"

"And did you—,"

"WHOA, whoa! One question at a time!"

Alice turned to Rose, "Oh my gosh it must've been good, I mean _look_ at her, she can't stop beaming!"

I hit her jokingly with my pillow, "Well neither can you two!"

"We're just feeding off your happiness, Bells."

"And I'm feeding of yours! It's a vicious never-ending circle!"

"Fine, fine, but can you please start from the beginning now?"

"Alright, so," I took a deep breath "… it started last night when I couldn't sleep…" I continued to tell my best friends about my incredible night.

--

* * *

**(?) POV – Sometime in the past two months**

They were gathered in the penthouse room of this building, congregating. As usual, when inducting a new member, we gathered shortly after each mission said person had recently completed to review the information.

"Did she pass?" Asked one of my friends gathered at the large dining table as me and two others walked in and took our seats at the table.

"With flying colors," I smiled at him. His smile grew wider at my answer and he sat back in his seat.

"Its not as though that was ever a question," spoke another of my friends who I'd just entered the room with. He ran his hands through his blonde hair and addressed the rest of the room, "We've always known she was very pure at heart. I don't think anyone doubted she would pass this particular test."

"But," spoke another, looking hopeful, "Is she strong enough to pass the final challenge? I mean, that one is going to take a lot of nerve."

Some of the others nodded in agreement. But Jasper spoke again, "She's much stronger than she looks. I don't think her _passing_ the final challenge will be the problem …" he trailed off, looking at the table with a frown.

I looked at him, "Do you think she'll refuse membership once we put her through that?"

He simply shook his head unknowingly, "She wouldn't be the first one to do so."

There was a swift increase in volume as all the members spoke at once, going over the possible outcome of the final challenge for this girl. Or, _Bella_, as she asked to be called.

"We don't know that she'll refuse," I spoke, calming the room down. "We've all grown attached to her as a friend, perhaps she feels the same way about us by now. Besides, she has her family connections to drive her." There were a few nods.

This was the part of the initiation process no one enjoyed. We would always wait for the person being initiated to get to this particular part before getting the final preparations ready. Everyone here had passed the final challenge and had seen past the hardship as a rite of passage, although they also saw the meaning behind it. But joining something so great was never meant to be _easy._ Surely by this point Bella would be a little more confident towards missions, but I've seen that confidence turn some people a little cocky, which completely throws them off for the final quest. And then they angrily turn down our invitation to join.

Not often, but it has happened.

"So did she refuse to steal the box right off the bat, or did she take it and turn around?" Asked another of my friends.

I chuckled, "I really thought she was actually going to do it for a second. She took the instructions from me and everything. But then she didn't even get out of the car." Most of the members chuckled appreciatively.

Jasper turned to me, "When do you think we should give her the other letter?"

"About the next mission? I'm not entirely sure, we should give it at least another week. Mel, do you think you can write it by then?" I turned to the seat next to me as I addressed her.

"Hmmm…" She took out her planner, "When do you want to meet to plan it out?" Us, who were the oldest usually met to plan out the details of each and every mission, go through possible permutations and write out the clues and the riddles. After that, it took someone with skilled calligraphy penmanship to write out the final copy. Mel was our calligrapher.

"That's fine," Jasper agreed after we'd scheduled a time, "but that isn't the letter I was referring to."

I turned to him, confused. But soon I, and everyone else in the room realized what he meant. "Oh. I think after this last small mission, before the final challenge. Hopefully it gives her the strength to get through it … and to not hate us after she does."

He nodded, "Sounds like a plan."

--

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**Thoughts? Cookies?  
**


	40. Hairy Situation

Even at this point I hadn't realized how seriously afraid my friends had become of Emmett on April fool's day, but I soon caught on. Edward and Jasper stayed in our dorm room figuring we'd be safer together. Alice clung to Jasper like glue, never leaving his side for fear of attack. Her actions had, in turn, made me more nervous, and I stuck by Edward, who bravely insisted on checking the bathroom and my closet for possible dangerous traps. I thought for a moment, that they were over doing it a little, but I just went with it.

After the other night, I had been afraid of Edward's reaction. Would he not want me anymore? But I soon felt ashamed for thinking that way. Our relationship seemed to have progressed to another level. We were closer than ever before and I could finally begin to understand how it was the my friends seemed to be so comfortable with their significant others. I had discovered why Rosalie and Alice's relationships seemed so perfect and so different than any other I had ever encountered. It was because they had both found someone who made them feel complete, someone who loved them just as they were and made them whole. And now, I had that too. Edward and I had become inseparable and perfectly blissful in each other's company.

That night we all went to bed, after Rosalie had assured us that she'd be fine, apparently Emmett had promised not to hurt her or anything.

"Rosalie, _are you sure?!" _Alice pleaded, "You can sleep here, we have a super comfortable sleeping bag, and you can have my comforter…"

But Rose just shook her head confidently, "Alice, I don't do sleeping bags. I'll be fine; he's sleeping in my room tonight so what could he possible do while I'm right there? And anyway, he _promised_."

Alice bit her lip, still looking doubtful, but she shrugged her shoulders in defeat, hugged Rosalie dramatically tightly, as though it was the last time she'd ever see her. I couldn't help but smirk at her severely frightened form. "Bella, I have a feeling you won't be laughing tomorrow when he puts glue in your hairbrush or something equally childish," she said to me after Rosalie left to room.

I just shrugged, shut off the lights and went to bed where I snuggled into my Edward. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep. Sometime during the night I could've sworn I felt him moving around, though.

And then …

The next morning, I fully understood just how seriously I _should've_ taken this day.

Someone was screaming … A very high pitched, hysterical crying kind of scream …

"MY HAIR! Oh my GOD my hair!" It sounded like Rosalie; I looked over to see that she had burst through our door screaming at the top of her long with tears streaming down her face. In her hands was what looked disturbingly similar to handfuls of her own gorgeous long blonde strands.

My eyes shot open immediately, and Alice and I both went to rush over to her … when I noticed bits of black hair strands falling off Alice's bed as she got up … and long mahogany locks cut in a haphazard way falling off my bed as I got up.

And then we screamed.

"OH MY GOD!"

"NO!"

Alice grabbed the fallen chunks of straight black hair off of her empty bed, screaming hysterically. Rosalie had fallen to her knees still screaming and crying. I was in shock; I ignored the bushels of brown hair on my bed and frantically grabbed at my own hair, screaming the entire time.

But something wasn't right … My hair didn't feel any different … not thinner or shorter anywhere… I looked over at Rosalie who was on the floor, analyzing her head. With my heart still beating rapidly in my chest, I rushed over to her and gently lifted a few locks of perfect blonde locks … it was the same as always. "Um … you guys, hang on." I began, finally starting to understand. But they didn't hear me; they were still crying loudly and desperately hanging onto the chunks of hair in their hands. Rosalie held the blonde hairs away from her, shaking her head in horror.

"YOU GUYS!" I yelled, getting their attention. "I don't think this is from our heads."

Alice stopped crying immediately, still skeptical, but hopeful. "What?"

"I think it's fake." I gestured to my hair, "it isn't cut anywhere. And neither is Rose's."

She ran to the mirror in the bathroom and checked her head. Rosalie, finally understanding what it was that I said, ran in after her.

When they finally came out, Alice looked utterly pissed off. Rosalie was unusually quiet, still breathing heavily, clearly completely freaked out. She looked as if she was about to faint. "Rose," I held out my desk chair for her, "sit down."

And she did, her tear stained face still completely filled with horror. After a minute or so, she finally found her voice and spoke, "I woke up … and there was blonde hair all around me … A LOT of it … just everywhere …and … I thought …" she gave a frightened sob, "I thought … Oh God, I can't breathe …"

Alice pulled a small brown paper bag and handed it to Rosalie, "breathe into this," she said soothingly. I rubbed Rose's back with one hand and clutched my chest with the other, still trying to steady my heartbeat, which was still going at lightning speed from my early morning fright. I opened my mouth to say something else but before I could, Jasper, Edward and Emmett burst through our dorm door.

"APRIL FOOLS!" They shouted at the top of their lungs, mischievous grins on their faces.

In the silence that followed, I was flabbergasted. I could only stare at the three of them with my mouth hanging open. They, in turn, laughed and pounded each other's fists in triumph.

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Alice snapped out of her haze and was stamping her foot angrily. "YOU TWO WERE IN ON THIS?!" she yelled at Edward and Jasper.

Jasper went over to hug her, "I'm sorry, honey, but Emmett discovered our plans—," But Alice moved out of his way before he could finish, making sure he couldn't hug her. The smile immediately faded off his face. "Alice, please don't be angry, it was just a silly prank."

"JUST A SILLY PRANK?!" It was Rosalie who erupted this time. I'd almost forgotten that she was still breathing into a paper bag in my chair. She balled up the bag furiously and thrust it aside, her eyes narrowing towards the guys.

Emmett looked suddenly deathly afraid, "Rose, babe …" he took one look at the tear stains on her face and stepped towards her.

"DON'T!"

Edward walked over to me, "Please, Bella, you see the humor in this, don't you?"

As it happens, I did see the humor in it, but I wasn't about to let _him_ know that. "What the hell happened to _our_ plans?"

Edward took in a relieved breath, apparently happy that I wasn't as angry as my friends. "Well, as Jasper said, Emmett figured out our plans and he told us he wouldn't prank us at all if we helped him out ..." But he trailed off as I glared at him.

I heard Emmett chuckle, "Seriously ladies, did you really think _fake snakes in my bed_ was really going to do anything? And the wet slippers?…" he closed his eyes and shook his head slowly, as though in pain, "Honestly, I'm hurt! Hurt that I have clearly not rubbed off on any of you enough. I mean, _seriously!_ Talk about no imagination—,"

"EMMETT!" Rosalie interrupted his little rant. "Now would be a good time to shut the hell up."

Emmett immediately heeded her warning and shut up.

"So," I began turning away from Emmett and back to Edward who was trying to hypnotize me with the crooked grin he knew I loved, "You decided it would be a good idea then to give your girlfriends a heart attack instead?"

"But he was going to prank you guys anyway—" Jasper reasoned.

"—And he threatened my _music collection!_"

"SO YOU HELPED HIM?!"

Jasper and Edward were looking at us pleadingly, but they spoke again, "OK," they said, holding their hands up in surrender, "OK, we knew you'd be upset, so we planned a special surprise for you all." Edward smiled his dazzling smile at me and put his arms around my waist, "How does a day at a spa sound?"

"After a long day of shopping … on us," Jasper added inching closer to Alice.

"And then the most amazing dinner anywhere you want to go," Emmett grinned with his one eyebrow cocked up, clearly thinking they had just bought our forgiveness.

Alice's tone was suddenly menacing, "Get. Out." She whispered in a deadly voice.

The boy's eyes went wide. Edward turned to me with a look of horror on his face, "Bella?"

I shut my eyes, afraid to look at him for fear of smiling or caving in, moved out of his grasp and went to stand boldly by Alice, "You heard her, Edward."

Emmett's faces twisted into the saddest puppy-dog look he could muster, "Rosie baby?"

But Rosalie wasn't having it. She walked over to me and Alice and crossed her arms across her chest. "Don't. Call. Me. Baby."

"Come on, can't you guys take a joke?!" Emmett looked at us all with an incredulous look on his face. He turned to his little sister, "Lice, you're not really mad are y—, OW!" Alice had wound her foot back and sent it flying into his shin.

"How would you guys like it if you woke up and suddenly all your hair was on your pillow!" Rose bellowed, visibly a little more uplifted now that Emmett was hopping on one foot holding his leg.

"I think we'd be able to take it in the context it was meant in." Edward said with a perfectly straight face. _Yeah right,_ I thought to myself.

"Oh REALLY?!" Rose stared daggers at him, "Are you really telling me that you'd be able to just laugh it off?!"

"Yes."

Alice put her hands on her hips and shook her head furiously, "Get out. All of you!" She began angrily walking over to the door, holding it open for them.

"But—" all the boys began speaking random excuses and apologies at the same time. Seeing them squirm was kind of fun … and a little empowering!

"No buts!" I said bitterly, fighting hard to keep the smile off my face, which I think Edward might have noticed because he was eyeing me with his cheek slightly lifted as though he too was hiding a smile. I helped Alice usher them out. The guys all sighed and made their way out the door, Edward smacked Emmett on the back of the head muttering something that sounded a lot like "idiot" and Jasper shoved him out of the way as he exited. "And boys?" They turned around, all looking hopeful, "This means war."

And with that, Alice stepped forward and slammed to door on their suddenly frightened faces.

--

* * *

**Theres more to come. Now its a war!**


	41. War Pt 1

"OK ladies," Rosalie said as soon as she was sure they were gone. "We need a plan of attack."

I nodded, "I agree, but that is going to take some time. We need really good ideas; we need to get them back harder than they got us."

"Definitely." Rose sighed and walked over to my desk where she had dropped the bushels of fake blonde hair she had nearly fainted over this morning, "I don't know about you girls but after this morning, I don't really feel like going to class today. What do you say we stay in, get comfy, watch movies, order food and scheme?"

Alice squealed in excitement, "Awesome!"

An hour later we had all showered, changed into super comfy and stylish track suits (similar ones we'd gotten at the beginning of the year, mine in sky blue, Alice's in pink and Rose's in a deep burgundy). For some reason, Alice and Rose felt the need to primp themselves up even if it was only going to be us. They said something about it making us feel better after such a traumatic morning. We each spent an extra long amount of time with our hair; whether drying it off, putting it in ponytails or just running our fingers through it, we were each reveling in the fact that it had not actually been cut off.

We even made Rosalie bring her laptop and other basic necessities to our room, insisting that she stay here for the duration of our prank war with the boys. She immediately agreed, not taking for granted what they may do to her.

After the first few hours of gabbing, scheming and laughing at the more ridiculous ideas, we had thought of a few good tricks which were guaranteed to piss the boys off. Alice had just finished looking up a little electronic device we were going to need to put our plan into action. "They sell one of those things at the Best Buy in town."

"Let's go then!" I said, jumping up.

"Bella, _you_ want to shop?" Rosalie looked at me with a worried face, "Oh no, Bells you're not suffering from post-traumatic stress are you? How many fingers am I holding up?" She waved three fingers frantically in front of my face.

I laughed at her and swatted her arm away, "I'm fine! But I want to get back at them. And the sooner the better."

They both laughed maniacally. Alice clapped her hands excitedly, "Oooh and to _really_ drive them mad, we have to look incredibly hot at all times. Make them see what their stupidity is making them miss out on when we see them in the dining hall. Instead of eating dinner, they can sit there and eat their hearts out. "

Now it was Rose's turn to squeal, "Oh good idea!!!"

"But wait, we're not actually going to still go to breakfast and dinners in the dining hall with them on a regular basis, right?" I asked confused.

"Of course not, we'll sit on our own. From here on in, we are giving them the silent treatment until we have successfully gotten them back for what they did to us."

"And then some!" Alice added enthusiastically. "Alright ladies, let's go buy all our necessities."

Before we could leave though, Rosalie and Alice both brought out their make up cases. I, wanting to stick to the plan, didn't argue. Since I really didn't have much make-up of my own, I poked and prodded around their cases, grabbing a few things they had used on me in the past, which, of course, turned out to be wrong with the outfit I was wearing so they spent a few minutes teaching me different make-up techniques. We kept the tracksuits on, but accessorized them expertly before finally heading out the door.

I have to admit that this shopping trip was a lot of fun. We first went to Best Buy, getting a few electronic items we would be needing, including an external computer hard drive, a clapper and a few other gadgets. Once we were done there, we headed off to the sporting good's store, not for any particular reason, but mostly to look around at their stuff and let inspiration hit us with an amazing prank idea.

And boy did it ever!

"Ew!" I said looking at a tiny little vial in the hunting isle, "Girls, come check this out!"

"Find something good?" Rose asked as she and Alice came over to inspect the tiny bottle in my hands.

"Ew! Deer Urine?!" Alice's face contorted into disgust, "Why the hell would anyone buy that?'

I shrugged, "Let's find out."

We found an older gentleman in a store uniform who was working in the isle next to ours. Rosalie held out the vial to him, "Excuse me, sir, what is this used for?"

He smiled brightly at us, "Well ladies, professional hunters use that to attract deer. You see, deer mark certain territories by urinating on it, usually trees. The pungent smell attracts other deer to that area, but you have to wait. It takes a while for them to appear but they will."

Alice looked like Christmas had come early, "So does this stuff have a very strong, lasting smell?"

The man scrunched his nose in disgust, "Oh definitely. I accidentally spilled a bottle here in the store once … we had to shut down that isle for hours. Even after you clean it up, it keeps smelling. It's very pure, that little bottle. I'd be careful with that if I were you."

Rosalie beamed at him, "Thank you very much sir!"

"Anytime, ladies."

We walked away grinning from ear to ear. Alice took the bottle and added it to our shopping basket, "This will _definitely_ come in handy!" After getting a few more items we decided to throw in just for fun and a couple of pretty sports bras and soccer shorts for me, we were off to another store. This time we went into Target in which we found everything else we were looking for, including some Benadryl, Nyquil, Tylenol PM, a few boxes of rabbit food pellets and some dye.

By the time we got back to the dorms there were two gorgeous flower arrangements in front of our door and one in front of Rosalie's door down the hall. I couldn't help but smile when I saw the mixture of lilies, roses and freesias. I immediately opened the card and read it;

_My dearest Bella,_

_I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, I'm miserable without you._

_I love you, you're my world,_

_Edward_

I felt a slow smile spreading across my face and warmth spreading along my insides. "Bella!" Rosalie's voice snapped me back into reality. "Don't let them soften you up; it's just what they want."

"What are we going to do with these?" Alice asked, "Do we throw them out?"

"Oh, that seems like such a waste." I didn't want these gorgeous bouquets to be thrown out. It would be a shame.

"I know. Grab the flowers and follow me." Alice and I complied and followed Rosalie downstairs. She went to the counter on the front desk and put them down in front of Greta, the middle-aged attendant who always guarded the front desk of our dormitory. "Greta, we have a present for you."

"Hey ladies. What's all this?" Greta asked brightly. We told her the story of our boyfriends' alarming prank this morning and our plans at retaliation, at which her eyes brightened and she laughed heartily. "Oh my goodness, you kids these days! But good for you girls, give 'em hell! If you need any help, I'd only be too happy to."

Alice's eyes brightened, "Thanks Greta, we may just take you up on that!"

"So what am I supposed to do with these flowers?"

"Just leave them up here, that way when they walk in and see them, they'll know we can't be bought off!"

"Good idea. And thanks, they smell great!" Greta leaned in to smell the freesias in my bouquet. I felt a little bad about leaving them there. I didn't want to admit it but the card and the flowers had really touched me. I had already hidden the card in my pocket.

And then an idea struck me, "Hey Greta, would you be able to do us a favor?"

"Anything, doll," she said sweetly.

"When you go to scan their school IDs sometime whenever you let them in the building, do you think you could perform a little switch?" In order to get anywhere around school, you had to use your school ID. It's what was needed to get into the building and what you needed to get into the dining hall since the cards held your school meal plan information.

"Sure, just tell me when."

I smiled at her, "We'll let you know. Thanks a lot Greta!" And we made our way back upstairs when I was about to tell Alice and Rose my plan when Greta called out or names.

"Hey girls!" we turned back at her voice, "Just thought you should know that your boys left not too long ago, they were in work out clothes and they said something about the dining hall. My guess is they won't be back for a while…" she said with a mischievous grin on her face.

We beamed right back at her.

Alice ran over to her and scribbled something on a notepad. "Here's my cell number, could you call us the second you see them entering the building?"

"Sure thing, doll."

As we waved goodbye, I grabbed one of the freesias out of the arrangement then followed Alice and Rose back up to our dorm to drop off our bags. Rosalie shook her head and chuckled, saying something underneath her breath that sounded a lot like "softie." I stuck my tongue out at her and she couldn't hide a smirk. As soon as we grabbed the necessities, we headed off to Edward and Emmett's room to put part one of our plan into action.

--

* * *

After putting up the first round of traps, we went back to our room, where I immediately called Angela, one of my friends from class who happened to do some part time work in the ID office. After filling her in on my plan and having her agree to it, I turned to the girls. 

"Operation Girls-Rule is in the works, girls!" I said, snapping my phone shut.

They beamed back at me between bites of microwaved Mac & Cheese. "So have we given any thoughts as to how we're going to get in their room after they begin locking it?" Alice asked.

"I was thinking we go down to the office and steal the spare key." Rosalie said as though it were no big deal.

"Are you kidding me? No way! We could get kicked out for that."

Rose just rolled her eyes at me, "Don't worry, we'll take care of that part. You go pick up that stuff from Angela."

"Fine. Be careful!"

I grabbed my key and cell phone and headed out the door. In a matter of minutes, I'd picked up what I'd needed, thanked her and began my walk back to the dorms.

"Hello Bella," Edward's voice startled me as he came up behind me.

I turned to face him, making sure to keep my face straight. "Hello."

He slumped his shoulders, "Please don't tell me you're still angry. Please forgive me," his eyes bore into mine, "I miss you."

My heart melted a little, but I kept a cool façade, "It's only been a few hours."

"Seven hours and forty minutes to be exact." He stepped closer to me, "and every second seems like forever." The palm of his hand caressed my cheek and I felt myself falling into the trap.

"Hey!" I snapped out of my Edward induced spell, "Don't you try dazzling me, Edward Cullen! _You_ started this war, remember?"

He brought his hand back down and smirked, his eyes wickedly amused, "I had you there for a second, didn't I?"

"No!" I said all too quickly. His smirk grew more pronounced and I made my way back up to the dorms. He followed immediately. "Don't you follow me, you traitor!"

His jaw dropped into a look of pretend shock, "A traitor? Me?!"

"Yes you! You totally crossed the traitor line with that stupid stunt."

"I'm so sorry, Bella, I honestly didn't think it would be that big of a deal. I thought we'd play a little joke, you'd forgive us and then we'd make it up to you by being your slaves for a week or something."

I scoffed, trying to sound like that didn't impress me, but the idea of Edward as my slave was very interesting … "Well your first mistake was siding with Emmett. Your second was thinking us girls were just pushovers who could be bought by flowers and promises of dinner."

Edward raised his eyebrow suggestively, "Not just flowers and dinner … I was planning a special night," he grinned crookedly at me again.

At that point I couldn't contain my smile any longer, "What makes you think I would've succumb to your promises of another special night?"

I could tell by the delighted look on his face that he was sure he had me there, "Oh it's just this feeling I have… or this feeling I know you'll have … at least twice." I blushed furiously, causing him to throw his head back and laugh. He put an arm around me as we walked back to Mason Hall. "So when are you girls finally going to forgive us?"

"When you get what's coming to you."

"And what exactly is coming to us?"

I shrugged, "You'll just have to wait and see, but it is something along the lines of pain, suffering, public humiliation …"

He shrugged indifferently, "So nothing too bad then," I laughed at his sarcasm. "And after this silly war then I can kiss you again?"

"Yep."

"But not before?" The hint of sadness in his voice made me want to throw my arms around him.

"I'd rather not kiss the enemy if you don't mind." I said matter-of-factly.

He chuckled, "And what if _we_ win this war?"

"You've already had your fun, Edward, do you really want to prolong this?"

"I'm just asking," He spoke in his most innocent tone as we entered the building and made our way upstairs.

"Well don't bother asking because you won't win." I said confidently as we reached my door.

"Can't I come in?"

"Nope."

He pulled his perfect lips into an exasperated pout, "Please? I wasn't aware of this no kissing or no fraternizing with the enemy stuff before it began so I never got the chance to get in one really good last kiss."

I folded my arms across my chest in an I-mean-business kind of stance but I had a feeling that the ever-enlarging grin on my face was giving away my true feelings. "And…?"

"And," He was grinning now too, clearly enjoying this little battle, "I think I should get one last kiss before the war begins."

"But the war has already started. _You_ started it remember?"

"Yes but I didn't realize it would start a war."

"Tough. You should've thought about that _before_ you gave us all a stroke."

He sighed, "Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"Nope."

"My goodness you're tough. Fine then, Miss Swan, we'll play your little war game." He crossed his arm across his chest, mocking my own stance, "May the best team win." And with that he walked past me and left.

But before I reached the door, I suddenly heard his voice right in my ear, "And Bella?" I gasped slightly, startled to find that he was so close to me. When I turned to face him, he swiftly put his hand behind my head and kissed my lips deeply.

It took a few seconds before I realized that I was supposed to be mad at him and I pulled away. "Hey!"

He laughed. "Gotcha!" was all he said before making his way down the corridor.

I put my hands on my hips and watched him walk away, trying to look outraged but failing miserably, his kiss, as always, had left me weak at the knees.

This was going to be a _long_ couple of days.

--

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**A very, very, very special thanks to vjgm who gave her expert help to me in these two chapters (this and the next one)! She is awesome and I bow down to her sheer brilliance and ingenuity! I hope you liked it!**


	42. War Pt 2

**I am THRILLED to say that this story crossed the 100,000 hits mark earlier this week! So thank you to all of you for reading and reviewing (over 2000 reviews, can you believe it?!) I'm so happy I could burst into song! But I won't since my voice could scare away sasquatch :)**

**THANK YOU!! **

* * *

"Was that Edward I heard outside?" Alice asked as I walked in.

"Yep. And they aren't going to make this silent treatment any easier on us." I closed the door behind me and leaned against it, trying to control my hormones which seemed to be screaming for another kiss from Edward. I closed my eyes and smiled to myself as my body slid down to the floor.

"Bella don't worry! It'll be easier to resist the boys after tonight!" Alice grinned evilly.

I laughed, "I'd almost forgotten about that!" I got up from the floor and rushed over to Rosalie who was fidgeting with the TV we had in our room. "Is it ready yet?"

Among a bunch of other hidden electronics we had put in their room, the girls and I had installed a hidden web cam, hooked into a special private network that only we could access. Rosalie was installing a cable from her laptop to our TV so that we could sit back and watch it clearly and comfortably with a bowl of popcorn.

An hour later that is precisely what we were doing. Rosalie and Alice bunked together on her bed while I was spread out on mine half paying attention to the screen and half doing my school work. The boys had yet to discover any of the gags; Edward was sitting at his desk, studying while Emmett was on his computer. "Oooh, ooh! Here it goes! He just went to take a shower!" Alice clapped her hands happily. We all immediately turned our eyes to the TV where we had a perfect view of the entire room. Emmett had gotten up and gone to the bathroom with a towel in hand. We waited patiently for it, not wanting to avert our eyes for a second and turned up the volume.

While Emmett was in the bathroom, the action that we had been waiting for from Edward finally came. Edward finally went to open his other laptop which was connected to his speakers. After a moment or two, he let out a frustrated growl.

Alice and Rose high-fived each other, "Haha! Victory is sweet." I laughed, watching Edward who was clicking away on his laptop, trying to find all his carefully organized music files that we had sneakily moved to a portable hard-drive which he wouldn't have access to until the war was over.

We laughed as we saw him bang on the bathroom door and accuse Emmett. He was yelling something else when, suddenly, there was a loud scream coming from somewhere in the room. The bathroom door opened and out came Emmett with a towel wrapped around his wait and his hair completely wet and sticking to his enraged face. But that wasn't what we were suddenly cracking up about …

Emmett's entire torso was blue.

Royal blue.

I nearly fell off my bed in laughter, while Alice and Rose were cackling madly as soon as he stepped out. "Bella …" Rose gasped for air, "how much of the dye did you put in the body wash?"

I stopped laughing looked at her with confusion, "I wasn't _supposed_ to put in the whole vial?"

At that point tears started streaming down both their faces. Realizing my mistake, and what it would mean for the guys, I joined in, holding my sides with laughter. We watched as Edward covered his mouth and listen as Emmett began yelling some more, gesturing wildly. When Emmett went back into the bathroom, we saw Edward's shoulders shaking uncontrollably as he tried to stifle his laughter. But as soon as Emmett opened the door, he was dressed again, and he quickly threw on shoes and made his way out the door with Edward right behind him.

"Oh no! They're coming!" I scrambled to change the TV channel while Rosalie jumped up and unhooked it from the laptop. In a matter of seconds we were back in our positions on the beds, pretending to study. Shortly after there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Alice asked innocently.

"OPEN UP!" came Emmett's booming voice.

I leaned back in my bed and brought a textbook up to my face, hiding behind it in a vain hope of concealing my giggles. I looked over and saw that Rosalie was doing the same thing with her laptop while Alice got up, put on a straight face and opened the door.

There stood a snarling, royal blue Emmett with stern looking Edward at his side. I bit my lip to keep from laughing as I saw him out of the corner of my eye, not looking directly at him.

As soon as she saw them there, Alice, with a very serious face, turned back to Rosalie and I. "Did anyone order a grouchy smurf?"

And then Rosalie and I couldn't hold it any longer. My textbook fell off my bed as we laughed so hard that my sides started to hurt.

"Do you think this is funny?!" Rosalie and I nodded in hysterical laughter which only further fueled his anger, "I have to go to class tomorrow looking like this!" Emmett fumed. I looked over at Edward who was still shaking in quiet laughter behind Emmett, which only made me laugh harder. Alice was doing and incredibly god job of keeping a straight face while Emmett ranted, "It's all over me!"

Alice kept her hands on her hips, "Well why didn't you stop when you saw what it was doing to your skin?"

"I wasn't paying attention!" He raged, "And believe me, this gives a disturbing new meaning to the term 'blue balls'."

If I thought I was laughing hard before, it was nothing compared to now. Alice somehow managed to keep her composure, "Well that is not our fault," she shrugged.

"YOU DID THIS!" He boomed.

"Hey! Don't blame us, you started this whole thing!" Rosalie said, jumping out of bed and going to stand beside Alice, "Besides, maybe you'll meet the smurfette of your dreams tomorrow on your way to class."

"What we did to you was not as bad as this!"

Rosalie looked outraged, "No, it was worse! I almost had a heart attack!"

"I'm assuming you also deleted my music?" Edward jumped in to defend his brother, angry once again.

"Nope." Alice said confidently.

"Oh _really!_ Then how come it suddenly isn't there anymore. There is only one song on my laptop!"

I got up and went to stand by Alice and Rose, "I thought you liked New Kids on the Block?" I said sweetly to Edward.

Edward's eyes shot daggers at me, "Bella, _my music?_" he shook his head in disbelief.

I felt a little bad for him, "Like we said before, we didn't delete it. We simply moved it."

I saw his face relax a little, "Where did you move it to?"

Alice shook her head, "That's for us to know and you losers to find out … after an appropriate period of suffering on your part."

Edward sighed in annoyance, "Are you telling me you're not going to give it back any time soon?"

"Pretty much."

"When then?"

"When the war is over."

He tutted impatiently, "And _when_ will this stupid thing be over?"

"When we're satisfied," Rosalie said, twirling a bit of her hair around on her index finger. "And you three are groveling at our feet, begging for mercy."

I got an idea, "And when Emmett promises never again to pull another April Fool's Day prank."

Alice and Rosalie's eyes lit up, "Oooh, good one Bella." Rosalie turned back to the boys with a wicked grin, "Yep, that too."

Emmett looked like he'd just been asked to eat his own puppy, "Wha… No … please …" I almost felt bad for him as I looked at his suddenly sad, blue face.

"You have to admit, though, this," Edward gestured towards Emmett, "has lasting effects. What we did to you lasted about two minutes. It isn't really fair."

"I don't think so," I said, putting my hands on my hips, "unless you don't count taking ten years off our lives as a lasting effect."

Everybody began speaking at once, arguing their side of the story.

"Hold it!" Emmett boomed once more. "Fine, if this is the way you guys want to play it, so be it. Let the games begin. But I have to warn you," he held up a royal blue finger in warning, "I have YEARS of pranking experience. You'll be begging for mercy in no time." He was clearly trying to look menacing but he just looked hilarious.

Rosalie cocked her head to the side, "We'll just see about that, Jokey Smurf."

--

* * *

Over the next two days, things had gotten pretty heated. Rosalie had basically moved in to our room for safety purposes. I had gone with her to bring the majority of her stuff over to our room, a process which took maybe a few minutes at most, but we had still come back to find Alice bopping up and down frantically while tied up on her desk chair. She was squirming uncontrollably due to the fact that the boys had put a bunch of ice cubes down her back and restrained her so she couldn't move them out. And taped onto her shirt was a sign that read; _Are you scared yet?_ It had taken half an hour to get Alice to stop swearing and scrub the green marker mustache they'd drawn on her off, but once she did, she told us that Jasper had snuck up behind her and caught her by surprise in a very passionate kiss. She said she didn't even notice that the other two were there until she felt Jasper set her down on her desk chair, by which Emmett and Edward were waiting with the rope and a bag of ice. Before she knew what was happening, they'd tied her up, drawn her face, and poured the ice on her.

After that episode, we learned to stick together. We walked to classes together and we'd wait for the others to appear before heading off to the dorms. The girls even came with me to the gym in the mornings when I had soccer practice.

The boys pretty much moved to Jasper's apartment, also for safety purposes. But that didn't foil our plans one bit. We knew their schedules so Alice, Rosalie and I hid outside while we waited for them to exit one morning.

"Here they come," Rosalie said, gesturing in the distance where Emmet, still blue but not quite as potent as before (he'd obviously spent a lot of time trying to wash it off), came out followed by Edward and Jasper. A few people sniggered as they passed by Paranoid Smurf, who along with the other two was looking over his shoulder, checking to see if they were safe. We stayed in our hiding spots behind the bushes until they passed. Once we were sure they were gone, Rosalie and I went upstairs with a bag of necessities.

Rosalie picked the lock. "Should I ask _why_ you know how to do this?" I asked her, not sure if I wanted the answer.

"I learned how to do it in high school. My friends and I snuck into my old high school one night after the baseball coach wouldn't let one of my friends try out just because she was a girl. There wasn't a girl's team in the school." She grinned evilly at the memory, "We just made sure he got what he deserved."

I laughed in spite of myself, "Oh no, Rose! What did you do to him?"

She shrugged innocently, "Nothing too harmful … ground up laxative pills in his instant coffee, hair removal cream in his lotion … that kind of thing." I couldn't stop laughing. "To be fair, he looked a lot better once all the hair fell off his arms and legs … he _should've_ thanked us… although, admittedly, the rash he got afterwards was not so sexy"

"Rosalie, I think you and Emmett were made for each other." I said shaking my head.

She laughed, "You and me both." She finally got the door open and we went inside, ready for work. "OK, let's do this."

"OK," I said putting our carefully thought-out plan into action and hurrying to Jasper's room. I quickly went into the room, grabbed a trash bag and went to his closet, ready to collect his clothes. I had gotten everything, when I thought I saw a bit of fabric in a clear box under his bed. Curiously, I pulled out the large, flat plastic box, opened it and gasped.

There, folded very neatly between layers of carefully placed tissue were three long, dark silvery hooded robes. Running my fingers over the cool satin fabric, I realized what this actually meant. My heart pounded in my chest as my mind raced, piecing together more puzzle pieces and wondering about others.

Unfortunately, I heard Rosalie running around in the other room, so I quickly and carefully put the lid back on the box and place it back exactly how I'd found it before resuming my activities. Half paying attention, I fumbled around with the last few things before finally getting back to Rosalie who was attaching a little device to the hidden electrical sockets.

"That's the last one of these," she said as she got up, "Now did you see Emmett's laptop?" she looked over at me, but I was staring into space, "Bella?" I snapped out of my trance upon hearing my name, "Are you alright?"

I nodded, "Yea, sorry, just daydreaming." I looked around the living room. "Here's the laptop, you work on that, I'll get the play station."

She nodded and headed over to the laptop, while I robotically replaced the memory card in the Play station with an identical one, my mind still not refocused on our current activities. "Don't forget the x-box," She reminded me, not looking up from her work.

Twenty minutes later my phone rang, "Hey Alice, what's up."

"I see Crappy Smurf in the distance, I think it's them," she said quickly.

"OK, we'll be right out, but we'll take the stairs."

"Good. Hurry."

I turned to Rose, "We have to go. Did you get everything?"

She nodded, "Yep." She put the laptop back exactly how she found it and we left. We ran down the stairs as fast as we could while carrying three bulging bags filled with clothes, by the time we were there, we saw them enter the building and take the elevator.

Outside, we ran into Alice, "Is everything set?" she asked.

"Yep." We responded happily, carrying the bags of clothes quickly back to the dorms.

--

* * *

Once again, we were back in our room, getting ready to go to the dining hall. This had become a routine, every night, we'd dress up, looking as good as possible before seeing the boys. Alice and Rosalie had gotten used to picking out my outfits so, sure enough, when I got out of the shower, there they were sitting on my bed; a small emerald green halter top with low-rise dark jeans and heels. Normally I would've protested against wearing something that clearly exposed my midriff, but I knew it would do me no good.

Rosalie was dressed in tight black jeans and a cropped vest with nothing under it except a black bra. _Only Rosalie_, I thought, shaking my head. Alice had on a grey draped mini-dress which fit her perfectly.

"Are we ready?" I asked twenty minutes later, once I had my hair perfectly straight and make-up on.

"I think so," Rosalie responded while putting on one final coat of lip-gloss. We made our way down stairs.

"Bye, Greta!" we all called as we stepped onto the hardwood floors of the lobby on our way out. But of course, I slipped on absolutely nothing and fell on my butt. "Ow!"

Alice chuckled, "here let me help you," but as she went to pull on me, she fell too. "Ouch! That was so weird,"

I chuckled, thinking nothing of it, "Now you know what it feels like to be me." We got up and walked across the pavement and lawns of the school until we reached the dining hall. Once again, the second we stepped onto the shiny marble tile floor of the dining hall, we all slipped and fell. "What the hell?"

"Why'd you have to pull me down with you?" Alice whined.

"I didn't mean too, it was a reflex!"

Once we got up, we looked around in silent surprise. The dining hall was pretty much empty, a rare occurrence for this time of day. But of course, there were our three boys sitting across the hall at our usual table.

We ignored them, although, I thought I saw them grinning slightly. But then we knew something was wrong as Rosalie slipped and fell on the floor once again. "What the hell is going on? Why is it so slippery?"

I reached out to help her and fell, myself. But when I tried to get up, my foot kept slipping on the tile as though I was wearing roller skates. It took the better of two whole minutes to finally stand. I lifted my foot to analyze the shoe and saw that the bottom of it was covered in some kind of thick clear grease. "EW!"

"Ugh! What is that?!" Rosalie asked, studying my shoe. Then we heard uncontrollable laughter from across the hall. We looked up and saw that the guys were slapping the table and holding their sides. Angrily, we tried to walk, or rather _skate_ over to them, but with much difficulty. With each step came a slip, and it did not help that we were on expertly buffed shiny marble flooring. We may as well have been walking on ice.

At one point Alice tried to take off her shoes, but unfortunately the speed in which she was moving caused her to trip. She caught herself but in doing so she accidentally pushed Rosalie out of the way. I turned around just in time to see very frightened Rosalie sliding backwards away from us. Rosalie, having nothing to hang on to, looked around helplessly; her shoes unable to muster up any friction at all to make her stop or slow down. Her arms were outstretched towards me and I tried to reach out and grab her, but of course, I fell. She shrieked hysterically as she drifted away, "Somebody stop me!"

At this point the boys were cackling loudly, wiping tears from their eyes. Jasper's shoulders were shaking wildly, Emmett was hunched over the table, laughing like a maniac, and Edwards hand was covering his mouth as he shook his head in laughter.

"This isn't FUNNY!" Rosalie screamed as she slid further away. I was sitting on the ground, unable to get up without slipping, and stunned, watching her helplessly drift back towards the desert counter. Finally her back bumped into the counter. She smiled as she came to a stop, turned to grin triumphantly, and then she toppled to the ground once more.

After a few more seconds of watching us struggle, the boys finally came over to get us. Edward picked me up and carried me back to their table. Jasper was just putting Alice down next to me when I heard Rosalie shrieking once again. I turned around and saw Emmett with Rose slung over his shoulder caveman style, kicking violently.

He set her down on my other side and then went to sit across from us and next to Edward.

I was trying desperately to get the image of a very scared Rosalie sliding away with her arms outstretched out of my head for fear of laughing; I had to pretend to be angry at them. I looked on either side of me at a very fuming Alice and Rosalie, who both had their arms crossed angrily across their chest, so I mimicked them. Edward, however, looked right at me and raised one eyebrow amusedly, seeing right through me, probably. I looked away from him and settled back into my chair with a "Humph!" which only made him grin.

"So is the war over yet, ladies?" Jasper asked, still laughing slightly.

"That depends," I said, turning to Alice, "Are we satisfied yet?"

"Definitely not!" She spat bitterly.

I then turned to Rosalie who was staring venomously at Emmett, "Not even close."

Edward spoke up, "I beg to differ! Look at all the stuff you've done to us, we've barely gotten you!"

"You got us plenty, way too much for our liking," I argued.

"Excuse me!" Emmett said incredulously, "Today, after being denied entry to the dining hall because our IDs weren't working, we head back to Jaspers thinking we'll heat up some pizza before we go sort out the ID problem, only to find that every ten seconds the stupid thing turns off!"

We smiled at the memory. Rosalie had taken the web cam from Emmett and Edward's room and placed it in Jasper's apartment. We hung out at Melanie's place for a while, watching the action unfold as we put the Clapper, a little device you attach to electrical outlets that allows you to turn them on an off with a sharp noise or clap, onto several outlets within the apartment. We made sure they were super-sensitive so they'd turn on and off with the slightest sound.

Emmett would yell in frustration whenever the microwave would go off but, of course, the noise from his yell would cause the thing to start up again. Then he would give a happy "YES!" which would shut it off again. We watched as he began alternating between "Yes!" and "No!" quickly, trying to make the thing keep going. The memory still cracked me up; Emmett bent over in front of the microwave, whispering to it as quietly, it looked as if he were a Lamaze coach talking to a woman in labor, "Yes … don't stop … no… good microwave ... no … OK good … no … keep going …" Edward had come running out of the bathroom, muttering something about ghosts when the radio in there would turn on and off suddenly. Jasper came into the room saying something but as they were all talking, all of the appliances in house would turn on and off suddenly, making them jump each time. It had taken them forever to figure out what was going on.

"Well you scared us, it only makes sense that we scare you!" Alice argued.

"OK, fine, but what about the clothes?"

"Not giving them back until Emmett makes that one little promise."

"No way." Emmett said, "I'll buy new clothes."

Edward looked at him, "With what? They called to cancel our credit cards." He sulked. We chuckled at the sour looks on their faces. "How on earth did you pull that off by the way?"

We all shook our heads, "No way, we're not telling you our secrets." Alice responded coolly. But the process had actually been pretty funny as well. Alice and Rosalie do some pretty good impressions of their brothers. "Besides, what you've done is much worse, that stupid picture of me tied up and squirming! I can't believe you sent that out to the entire school! One girl thought I had rabies!"

They laughed, "Yea that was pretty funny. But not as bad as rewriting our term papers!" Emmett said, "Imagine how stupid I felt when I my teacher calls me up in my debate class to discuss the inappropriate topic of my paper; Why Clinton is prettier than Bush."

I snorted, "Oh nice one, Rose!"

She smiled, "Thanks. But still, guys, _greasing our shoes!_ You better hope this comes off."

"There are worse things you could have on the bottom of your shoes." Jasper laughed, "And if it doesn't come out you can consider it payback for our pillows! What did you put on them anyway? It smelled like diluted pee!"

We cracked up at that. "Good guess Jazz," Alice said to him, "It was Deer urine, usually used for hunting, but we thought it'd help take the old pizza smell out of your apartment." I laughed at her innocent tone.

"EW! That is definitely taking it too far!" Emmett boomed.

"You drew a mustache on me, Stinky Smurf!" Alice screamed at him.

"You turned me blue!!" He screamed back, leaning across the table towards her, "It's taken endless showers to get that to come off. And it's not even completely gone."

"You put spiders in my jewelry box!" I yelled at them.

"You erased our saved Play station games! Do you know how long it took to get to that level?" Edward tried to look angry, but I saw a smile lingering there somewhere.

Rosalie jumped in now, "You gave my phone number out to the entire hockey team!" Emmett grinned at that and upon seeing him, she turned to me with a casual voice, "Speaking of which, I have a date with the captain on Saturday, do you think I could borrow those blue dangly earrings? They'll go perfect with my lingerie." Emmett's eyes bugged out of his head. He slammed his fist down on the table. Rosalie just smiled and turned to him in a mocking tone, "April Fools." He scowled at her and looked away.

Edward sighed, "OK, can we call a truce or something? I mean, isn't it enough already?"

"Not until Emmett promises." I said.

Jasper and Edward turned to Emmett, who looked back at them with his mouth open in shock, "Oh don't turn on me now, guys! We need to stick together!"

"Emmett, I want my ID back." Jasper said to him.

"And I want my clothes!" Edward said looking at him, "And I want my car to run again." Rosalie snorted. It had been a few days since she disabled all their cars. "They've stranded us and cut off our finances; we had to bribe the lady at the front to let us in here with the last of the cash we had on us!"

It was Jasper's turn to sigh, "And we have no clothes! And you're blue! And I want my apartment back! You're not as much fun to sleep next to as Alice is," I laughed as Emmett's expression turned shockingly insulted, "No offense," Jasper grinned at him innocently, "Just admit it man, they've got us. I've had enough."

Edward nodded, "Me too."

Emmett just crossed his hands over his chest. "I'm not forfeiting April Fools day for the rest of eternity. No way. Its what I live for, man!"

Rosalie rolled her eyes, "That's real comforting, Em."

The boys argued, and while we listened to them, I came up with an idea. "Hold it. OK, how about we make a deal with you, Emmett?"

He looked at me skeptically, "Depends. What kind of deal?"

"You get to keep April Fools day and we end the war right here and now … _if_ you promise never to prank any of us ever again."

He thought about it for a minute, "Here's my deal, No April Fools day pranks, on any of you without extreme provocation, which is upon my discretion only. Any other time of the year, I may, within reason, maintain my pranking abilities." The lawyer in him made his way to the surface, "deal?"

I looked at the girls, receiving a quick nod from them both, "Deal."

We shook on it and both laughed. "I have to admit, I'm very impressed. Those pranks were priceless!" Emmett grinned, "I'm glad I've rubbed off on you. I mean the clapper?! That was impressive!"

Alice smirked, "That was my idea!"

Emmett looked at her with mock pride, "My little sister…" he clutched his hand to his heart, "I've never been so proud."

--

* * *

**Thanks again to everyone for reading, it means a lot :) I love you guys!!**


	43. Musings

By the next day, everything had pretty much gone back to normal. All the boy's belongings were returned, their new credit cards would be arriving the next day, Rosalie had fixed their cars, I helped remove the unwanted web cam and clapper devices from Jasper's apartment while Alice went into town with Jasper to buy new bedding and pillows for the boys after we'd ruined theirs.

That night we had each spent alone with our boyfriends. Edward and I lay in his bed, talking and laughing for hours before finally getting some sleep. It had been bliss lying in his arms. Not speaking to him for several days had made me slightly anxious, but I suppose the reunion was almost worth it. When I'd pulled out the external hard drive with his music, he'd been so happy that he pulled me in for a surprisingly passionate kiss, snaking his arms around me so I couldn't escape, not that I'd wanted to. The memory of it made me blush all over again; his lips on my cheeks, my neck, my lips, my collar bone … on my stomach … on my hip bone … his warmth … the feel of his hands as they moved over me … the feel of his body against mine …

_Snap out of it, Bella!_ I thought to myself. We were all gathered in Jasper's apartment after it'd been expertly cleaned to perfection by all of us. We had all showered, changed into fresh pajamas and gathered in his living room awaiting the Chinese food delivery and talking animatedly, each restored to our usual happy selves after much needed alone time with our significant others.

I was snuggled into Edward's side when I heard the doorbell ring. Alice sprung up to accept the delivery while Jasper got up and went to the kitchen, "What does everyone want to drink?" He asked.

I shrugged, "Whatever you've got is fine with me."

"Me too," Edward called to him, not moving from his very comfortable position next to me.

"Me three!" Rose called, followed shortly by Emmett. Jasper nodded and got iced tea for everyone and within half an hour we were watching a hilarious movie and eating out of cartons. It was nice to sit back an unwind, especially after all the thoughts I'd had floating around lately.

I, of course, hadn't forgotten about my discovery in Jasper's room. I wanted so desperately to find out more, but I didn't dare ask him out right. After all, _anonymity is key_. If I asked him, he would probably deny the whole thing. But then what could he do? I know that he's involved, that he is one of them. There's not one doubt in my mind about that. I had three people that I was positive about, Joshua, Melanie and Jasper. But now, who else?

During the movie, Edward lazily twirled a strand of my hair in his fingers. "Hey I found this place not too far from here where we could go on a hot-air balloon ride. Would you like to go with me next Saturday?" He asked in a near whisper so that he wouldn't disturb the others watching the movie.

I beamed at him, "A hot-air balloon?! Like in the Wizard of Oz?!"

He laughed quietly, "Yes. How about it?"

"Absolute—," I paused, "Oh wait. Next Saturday I have a soccer game. Its an important one." Sinking disappointment seemed to fill my stomach.

He put his arms around me and pulled me closer to him, "Its not a problem. We can go another time." He kissed my forehead sweetly and I immediately knew that he wasn't upset about it, "Are you nervous about the game?"

I shrugged, "Kind of, but I feel pretty well prepared."

"Who are you playing?" Emmett asked from where he was seated.

"Some school from Ohio … Lewis Carroll University?"

Jasper nodded, "We played their football team back in October, and they were quite the cards …"

Edward chuckled, "They were running around like they'd lost their heads. Man, they were pretty pathetic."

I laughed, "Well lets hope their soccer team is the same … although if they were I don't think they would've made it into the championships."

"Well, I still go by my theory … a teams mascot says a lot about them." Emmett said confidently, pulling Rosalie closer to him and resting his head on hers, "And when your team mascot is the Mad Hatters what real chance do you have?"

We all laughed. "I don't know Emmett, that's what you said about the Elves and they were pretty vicious." I pointed out.

"Elves have the capability of being ferocious, they aren't usually but sometimes it comes out. Mad Hatters are a different story. I mean, come on, they're mad! Crazy people don't play sports well."

Edward rolled his eyes at his brother, "Your logic astounds me."

"But aren't crazy people sometimes violent?" I asked.

Emmett shook his head, "Not the ones that wear hats," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

I looked to Edward with my brow furrowed in confusion. Edward simply shook his head, "Don't try to understand what goes on in his head … its better to just smile and nod." I giggled.

We all settled back to watch the rest of the movie, but it didn't hold my interest so I found myself drifting into unconsciousness.

"Bella?" Edward called me out of my trance after a while.

"Hmm?"

"Are you falling asleep?"

I looked at him, "No," but a yawn escaped me and made him chuckle in sheer skepticism.

"How come you're so exhausted? Its only eight at night." He studied my face, "Are you ill?"

"No, no," I yawned again, as did Emmett and Rosalie, "see I'm not the only one."

At that point I noticed that everyone's eyelids were drooping. Wait a minute …

I sat up suddenly, "Oh no."

Edward eyed me carefully, "What's going on?"

"Yea Bells, what's up?" Emmett said with another wide yawn.

I turned to Jasper, "Jasper did you, by any chance, happen to buy a new gallon of iced tea today?" I eyed my glass on the coffee table.

He looked confused, "No, why?"

Alice gasped next to him, "Oh no!"

"What is going on," asked a very curious Edward.

Rosalie groaned, "Oh crap! We forgot about the drinks!"

Alice bit her lip, "We put drowsy cough medicine in all of the beverages in your fridge."

"What?!" Jasper looked incredulous.

"Well," she continued in a small, innocent voice, "it was during the prank war, and we forgot about it. It was supposed to make you guys really sleepy and stuff so you would fall asleep in classes and stuff and get in trouble."

Emmett just laughed his signature booming laugh, and after a few seconds, we all joined in.

"I guess that one kind of backfired on us, huh?" I chuckled. Edward kissed my nose and nodded.

"Oh well, at least we'll all get a good night's sleep tonight." Jasper said as he hugged Alice closer to him.

Emmett ruffled her hair, "Alice you have truly amazed me these past couple of days. I have never been more proud of you." Alice giggled as Emmett then threw a pillow at Edward's head, "Why couldn't you take after me some more?"

Edward dodged the pillow and grinned, "Someone in the family has to be somewhat normal, don't you think? Especially with you two lunatics running around."

Both Alice and Emmett stuck their tongues out at him at the same time.

--

* * *

I walked into my dorm later that week having just attended class to find that it was empty. Alice was either in class or at Jasper's and Edward was in his lab class. Although moments without Edward always had me longing for him, I did enjoy having the time to think freely. There were things on my mind lately that I couldn't talk to about anyone, nor could I put them aside much longer. I dropped my messenger bag next to my desk, kicked off my sneakers and lay in my bed, thinking over the recent discovery I had made at Jasper's.

He had three robes hidden under his bed; each neatly folded and carefully tucked away where he thought no one would look. Three of the dark silvery satin robes I knew to belong to members of the Twilight League. The inevitable question pestered me once again, as it had so many times since the day I discovered them; _why three?_

_I shouldn't jump to conclusions_, I thought to myself. _There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation_. There was no doubt in my mind now that Jasper was a member, and I suppose it would be possible for him to have more than one cloak. _In case the others get damaged?_ But as I thought it, I knew that wasn't the case. He wouldn't have three robes for himself. Two of them must belong to others.

My mind immediately wandered to the other two I was certain of; Melanie and Joshua. But they each have their own apartments where they could store them. It would make no sense for them to have Jasper hold onto their cloaks for them. Even if they were afraid their roommates would stumble upon them, each had their own room where they could easily hide them. So they were out. Who else?

In my head I wandered back to the last face to face (in a matter of speaking, I didn't actually _see_ their faces) encounter; the night of my second task. There were three people in the SUV, the cloaked man with the impossibly deep voice who sat in the back with me, explaining what I was to do. Then there was the driver and the man in the passenger seat. I hadn't heard either of them speak, although they did laugh… and the one in the passenger seat had handed the one next to me the box with the compass. I closed my eyes and went back to that moment in my mind, the moment I realized that I _had,_ in fact, passed their test … I hadn't heard Jasper's voice though. And they did laugh for a bit at one point …

"_So, Isabella," came an impossibly deep male voice from beside me, "The time has come for your next test."_

_He paused and I nodded slowly, anticipating the worst, but praying for the best. Either way, I couldn't deny that I was excited to be with them again. I hadn't actually been with them face to face since the masked ball last term._

_He cleared his throat and adjusted his collar around the mouth part of his cloak before. "Your task is simple," he said as the car wound through the streets. One look outside of the window told me that we were in the old quaint town right outside of the school. Its old stone houses and buildings stood out to me. "You must retrieve a box." …_

I immediately sat up in my bed. He had adjusted his collar before speaking … could he … was there …? I sprang from my bed and went to my laptop, searching the internet for something specific but not really knowing what it was.

I pulled up a search engine and typed in 'voice modulating devices', hit the send button and waited for the results to pull up. The page loaded in an instant and I went to one result that sold different styles. I looked around and the many different kinds. There were large ones, but I disregarded those, knowing there was no way they could have fit that comfortably into their cloaks.

Then I found many different small ones.

_Bingo!_ I thought enthusiastically as I pieced together another puzzle piece. They could _absolutely _have been masking their voices. It would make sense, since they mask their faces all the time… and they had sounded different than when I'd met them at the ball, when they only had fitted masks on so nothing would fit under those … And they _knew_ me. They'd been at my soccer game, they knew about my personality, they knew where I lived. I _knew_ them!

I just didn't know who they were.

I closed my laptop and jumped from my desk chair, did the tiniest of happy-dances at the elation of my new discovery before I tripped over nothing and landed on the floor.

Ouch! Damn.

I sat back down in my bed and went back to my mystery. Now the only thing that was left was figuring out _who_ they were. I thought about things logically; if Jasper had three robes, two of them must be for others, and they must have hidden them at his place because they didn't want them found. But even if just anyone were to stumble upon them, would they even know what it was? After all, there were no markings on them, at least not from what I could see, and if that was the case then anyone who saw them would probably think it was just a normal, luxurious satin hooded robe. Or maybe even a Halloween costume. Unless the person knew of the Twilight League, there is no way that they would associate the two things, therefore, Jasper must be keeping them safe for people who are afraid of those near them finding the robes and linking them and their owners with the League. Now who else would know about the League and not be in it but one who is pledging?

Me!

My mind danced as I went through the possibilities of who those other two robes could belong to. Let's see, from what I knew about the League was that they were all close friends, as one of the members had told me during my first experience with them. So it would be people that Jasper was close with. Let's see, his close friends were Alice, Rosalie, Edward, Emmett, Logan, Joshua, Melanie and a few others.

I narrowed my search to those who I would be most likely to find robes in their belongings; Emmett, Edward, Rosalie and Alice. Could they all be members? Could they all have been there during any of my tasks? What about the last task? There had been three in the car, one of them was probably Jasper, seeing as how he knew me so well and he was very close friends with who I suspected to be a leader of some sort; Joshua. From what I knew about Joshua, he'd been out during the blizzard when I was sent to get the key during my first task; I'd heard him saying to Edward that he had been out that night, and let's face it; no one in their right mind would have been out there if they could help it.

So it could be that Josh was one of the people in the car with me during the second task. The descriptions fit; he was tall and he was a member. I frowned; those two weren't _great_ clues, but they were clues nonetheless. The people in the car were definitely all boys, though, and Jasper wouldn't hide a robe for Joshua because he could surely hide his on his own. So that left Edward and Emmett.

Could those two robes belong to Edward and Emmett? Could Edward and Emmett be in the Twilight League?! It made sense, their families had definitely been in it. But then another thought struck me; Edward had been waiting for me in my bed when I'd got home that night and he'd already been asleep. They had dropped me off right at my dorm, there was no way for him to have gotten up there before me. And he'd also had asked Joshua what he was doing out the night of the blizzard, so he didn't know.

My heart sunk. Edward hadn't been in that car. Damn. I really thought I'd had it then. Alright then, that leaves Emmett … except Emmett and Rosalie had been annoyingly touchy that day, all through lunch and then dinner … I was pretty sure they'd spent the night together, and it would explain why Edward waited for me in my room, not wanting to interrupt their fun.

Argh! This was frustrating.

Oh well, at least I had narrowed down at least two of the people who were in the SUV. Jasper was probably there, since Alice had been in the dorms that night so I knew she wasn't with him.

Oh my gosh! I bolted upright once more as a thought struck me:

Alice!

My mind was suddenly filled with thoughts; The sequined mask she had at the beginning of the year, draped over a black garment bag… a garment bag that could have held a ball gown … like the one I had for my first encounter with them! I had never seen that garment bag again and I'd been in her closet pretty often since she was always dressing me and switching my close for ones she had that would fit me better … _I_ was always in her closet; me, a prospective Twilight League member … so if she was in the League, she'd have to keep it a secret from me, and that meant she couldn't just leave her own silver robe in her closet, I'd be sure to find it … so she would have to keep it at Jasper's!

I jumped from my bed and did another little happy dance; Alice was in the League! Of course! That's how they could always easily get the letters to me! Even if Alice wasn't there, she could always leave it open of let someone she trusted borrow the key for a bit!

I jumped up and down on our lavender rug with a huge grin on my face, unable to contain the joy I felt at my discovery! Alice was in the Twilight League! Alice!

Yippee—

The door to my room suddenly opened and I immediately tripped once more and landed painfully on my side. Damn rug! Damn clumsy feet!

"Bella?" Speak of the devil. Alice had a hand covering her grin as she addressed me,  
"What were you doing?"

Crap. I felt my face flush a deep crimson, "Oh … nothing, you know … just jumping jacks … gotta stay in shape you know … big game next week."

Her eyes danced with amusement but she kept her hand clamped over her mouth, "Sure … jumping jacks … OK then." I got up and brushed myself off as she entered the room, "so do you normally exercise in your jeans, or was it a spur of the moment thing?"

I put my hands on my hips and shot her an annoyed look to cover up my embarrassment, "As it happens, I just suddenly felt the need for jumping jacks."

She laughed, "Alright then, are you done? Because we're meeting Rosalie in her room while she drops off her bag and changes her shoes before we leave for dinner. Why that girl wears pointy heels when she's going to be working with dirty mechanical stuff in class is beyond me."

I chuckled, "She's quite the mystery," I grabbed my wallet from my messenger bag and stuffed it into my back pocket along with my keys as we headed out the door.

"So do you want to tell me what you were _really_ doing when I walked in?"

I hesitated for a split second, but then decided against telling her about my discovery. After all, I couldn't be one hundred percent positive just yet and as they'd said _anonymity is key_. "If you must know, I was doing a happy dance."

She chuckled, "And what were you so happy about that you had to express it by dancing and falling on your face."

I rolled my eyes, "Actually, I fell on my _side_, thank you very much. And just a little discovery I made that I think will make some things a little bit more fun."

"School things?" She mused.

I nodded, "You could say that." We dropped the subject as we arrived at Rose's door.

"I'm almost ready. Alice can you help me take off this damn shoe, the buckle is stuck? And Bella, could you grab me that light green jacket in my closet, I got grease on this one."

"Sure thing," I nodded and headed over to her closet and search for her light green jacket. I smiled as another realization hit me; Rosalie's wardrobe was another I was very familiar with. Her and Alice would always swap my clothes without permission… could the third robe be for her? I went through her carefully organized clothes … _Nope, no silver robe here …_, I thought myself with a grin as I found the green jacket and went to give it to Rosalie. I couldn't be sure about Rosalie, after all, it isn't guaranteed that all members of a family will join, or that they'll even get the invitation. But at least I had Alice.

--

* * *

**Thoughts? **

**Sorry its taken so long to update but I have another chapter almost ready so expect that either tonight or early tomorrow. Thanks so much for reading!**


	44. Gotcha

**Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing! Just to let you know, some parts of this chapter might be rated T. Enjoy!**

* * *

Later that night I was supposed to be studying. I had an exam coming up at the end of the week, not to mention a really big game the next day. Practices were once again grueling, but not as bad as they were before; I guess we'd all gotten used to the tortures. Edward was going to stop by later after he spent a little more time in the lab doing some work, then he was going to come and do the rest of the studying here in my room. Everyone else was off doing their own studying; Alice was in the sewing lab putting together a big project, Emmett hadn't taken his nose out of his textbooks for three days now, which made dinner and lunch times really quiet. He barely glanced up from his meticulous notes which I thought would bother Rosalie, but she was too busy memorizing stuff also, as was Jasper. Everyone's workload had mounted and we all had big exams at the end of the week, so I knew that it was wrong of me to be sitting there fingering the Twilight League compass I'd received instead of studying.

My mind was a million miles away, thinking of the inner workings of the League and what their activities consisted of once a person joined. The tips of my fingers traced the back of it, over some letters written in Latin; '_Carpe Diem, Quam …_' I didn't know Latin, so the rest blurred together. I wasn't really paying attention to their meaning anyway, just simply letting my mind roam in the mystery while my eyes took in the aesthetic beauty of the small item before me; the back of it was just as pretty as the front, the Latin letters were miniscule and elegant, engraved around edge of the back side of the compass in a perfect circle. In the center there was an ornate design consisting of a three golden leaves. I turned it back around to the front and clicked the button again, allowing the lid to pop open. On the inner part of the lid were more words engraved; _Where there are friends there is Wealth_. Such beautiful words.

My phone buzzed telling me that I had a new text message. I flipped open the lid to find a text from Alice that had apparently been sent to all of us: 'Hey guys, I'm sorry, can't make dinner, too much work. Rain check?'

I sent a mass text out to everyone too: 'Sounds fine to me, how about we all pass on the dining hall tonight? Workload is huge.'

I got a few more texts confirming the cancellation of plans and one crazy one from Emmett: 'Times like these when I miss my mom's home cooked meals, delivered to my room when I had too much studying to do.'

I laughed at his message and then saw that there was another one from Rosalie, 'I volunteer Bella to make a home cooked meal if we all pass exams.'

There was an instant response from Edward: 'Sounds good to me.'

I texted them all back immediately, chuckling: 'How come I get volunteered? I say Edward should cook.'

Edward answered back: 'You're the best in the kitchen out of us all. But if you win the game on Saturday then I'll make dessert.'

I smiled and answered back: 'Deal.' I received a few more texts from my friends solidifying the plans for this weekend before I put the phone away and headed back to my studies.

About an hour and a half later there was a knock on my door. I opened it to find Edward holding his backpack and a pizza box. "Anyone order pizza with mushrooms?" He said with a grin.

I held the door open for him to enter, "You read my mind!"

"Well no surprise there, I am a mind reader." He chuckled as he put the pizza box down on Alice's desk and dropping his bag before taking me by my waist and pulling me swiftly into him. I gasped in delightful surprise as he dipped me down and kissed me passionately. His lips moved musically against mine, and the unmistakable tingling of pure pleasure was beginning its way throughout my body, making me satisfyingly dizzy and lightheaded … maybe it was from being slightly upside down … oh who cares … nothing mattered as long as he kept kissing me. But all too soon he pulled away. "Like I said, I'm a mind reader."

He pulled me back up and I shot him an amused look, "Can you tell what I'm thinking now?" I asked him as my fingers began to outline the muscles under his t-shirt.

He laughed and seductively ran both hands up and down my back slowly, "I _can_. You're thinking you're hungry and you want to study."

"Just when I thought I'd have to slap a turban on you and call you Miss Cleo, you have to go and disappoint me." I sniggered, "I was thinking about my unbelievably handsome boyfriend who is looking absolutely irresistible right about now." I ran one finger softly down his chest and over his abs.

He shot one eyebrow up, "My mistake." He kissed me once more, his hands beginning to roam, "I like where your mind is headed." I pulled away from his lips and placed my own lips on his neck, kissing and lightly flicking my tongue softly on his flesh. He gasped sharply and pulled my body tighter into his. His hands made their way under my shirt, inching up … around the front … fingering my bra… "Bella …" the sound of my name escaping his lips just made it harder for me to gain control over my own body. Our actions soon turned to a more urgent pace; my hands lifted his shirt, but he stopped me. "Bella, we really _do_ have to study …" His hands moved to my neck, titling my head up so he had better access. His nose grazed my collar bone as he shook his magnificent head back in forth slowly.

I meant to groan as he pulled away but I still hadn't gained complete control over my senses. I took a step back and tried to steady my breathing, out of the corner of my eyes, I saw him doing the same thing. He took a step toward his books, fighting for control over his sense. Then, out of the blue, he stopped and turned back to me, grinning my favorite crooked grin, "You know what?"

"Hmm?" I asked, still regulating my breaths as best I could.

He walked back over to me so quickly and pulled me into his arms once more, "Screw the books for now," was all he said before his lips crashed onto mine once again.

My hands immediately removed his shirt and his did the same to mine. In a fiery haste, my books were swept off my bed before he threw me onto it. That was the only second that his lips ever left my skin.

Needless to say … the books and the pizza lay forgotten …

--

* * *

An hour and a half later I flopped back onto my bed, breathing heavily against Edward. He lay there, taking deep breaths and tracing lazy doodles with soft fingers on my arm which was draped across him. "You are incredible." He whispered to me.

I kissed his bare shoulder, "_You_ are incredible." I closed my eyes and lay my head against his chest. Lying here with him was heavenly. For the moment, I allowed myself to forget about school and anything else while I focused only on him and the peaceful sound of his heart beating.

After a few minutes I felt him kiss the top of my head. "I love you so much, Bella." His other hand moved to my exposed back, running his warm hands over it gently, "And not just because you're amazing in bed."

I laughed, "Thanks, I think." He chuckled at my joke, "I love you too." I scooted up to kiss him on the lips once more. The kiss was longer than I'd expected, not urgent but sweet and adoring. It didn't take long before I once again felt the warm tingling starting somewhere in my lower abdomen and working it's throughout my entire body. I shifted so that I was now hovering over him, his hands helping me along the way. I leaned into him, reveling in the pleasure of his bare skin on mine.

He pulled me away from his lightly, only far enough so he could look me in the face. He raised his eyebrows amusedly, asking me a silent question. I bit my lip and gave him a very seductive grin. He laughed and rolled his eyes playfully, "Seriously?" I nodded quietly, smiling at him. "OK, one more time, but then we _really_ have to study!" I laughed with him as he rolled us both so that I was under him but not supporting any of his weight. His lips and tongue once again worked their magic on me as my hands gripped his perfect muscles one more time.

--

* * *

Friday at five o'clock I was the first one of my friends to get to the dining hall after my classes. We had decided on an early dinner, since I had to get some rest before my game tomorrow. I went to grab a coke when I saw Alice coming towards me. "Bella! I think I passed!"

I hugged her happily, "I'm sure you did! That's awesome!"

"How'd you do?"

"I think I did pretty well on mine." I said confidently. The exam hadn't been nearly as bad as I'd expected it to be.

We got into line together to get dinner when Emmett came behind us, "I passed!" He yelled making us jump.

"Emmett!" Alice yelled at him for making her drop her empty tray. "What is your deal?!"

Emmett looked at her with eyes so reminiscent of her own overpowering puppy-dog eyes that her angry façade crumbled immediately, "I'm sorry, Alice, I'll love you forever if you don't get mad at me."

Alice giggled, "You'll love me forever anyway. Congratulations!" She hugged him and then he picked up her tray and handed it to her. I congratulated Emmett as we went through the line and got dinner. We went to sit down to find Edward and Rosalie already at the table sipping happily on sodas. "I'm guessing things went well for you guys?

Edward put an arm around me as I sat down next to him, "Nothing to complain about." I kissed his cheek sweetly as he spoke. "Did you do well?" I nodded in response and he hugged me, "I knew you'd rock it!"

I laughed, "It must've been all that studying," I raised an eyebrow at him.

He clamped his lips together to hide a smirk while his eyes danced with amusement.

"Jasper!" Alice called him over as she saw him entering the dining hall. He turned at the sound of his name and smiled at her, locking his eyes on hers as he and Joshua, who he'd entered with, came towards our table. He kissed her, said a very happy 'hello' to the rest of us and then he and Josh went to get dinner. Rosalie and Edward got up and joined them.

I listened to Alice telling Emmett about her exam with minimum attention. My mind was on other issues; here were three members of the Twilight League about to all be seated at my table, I was sure of it. But what could I do? I couldn't just ask them flat out, there were others who I was sure weren't in the League present. Besides, even if it were just the four of us, we were in a crowded dining hall where anyone could listen in, and I knew the League took their secrecy very seriously.

I suppose I could drop a few comments … see if I get any response … and it would be so much fun to mess with them. An evil grin began to spread across my face against my control. In the background I heard Alice address me and I responded without really paying attention, "uh huh," I barely said, still thinking about what I could say … what could I say that would let them _know_ that I'm on to them … but would also be discreet enough so no one else would know what I was referring to without thinking I was completely deranged. "Sure," I answered another of Alice's unheard questions.

But soon the giggling caught my attention, "What?" I asked as I snapped back into the conversation. Both Alice and Emmett were looking at me and laughing. "What?" I asked again.

Alice leaned across the table and patted my hand, "Thanks so much, Bella!"

I smiled at her, "Oh you're welcome … … what are you welcome for exactly?" I asked simply, as if I knew I just wanted to verify.

Of course, I suck at hiding the truth so they saw right through me. Or maybe they knew already … they _knew_ I had no idea what they were talking about. "For agreeing to be one of the models for my final project." I felt my eyes bulge out of my head, "You'll be perfect for the concept piece I have to present in front of the entire class."

"The entire class? Wait—,"

"Actually it's all three classes being joined together for the final." She spoke excitedly and at top speed, "We have to present two pieces; a concept outfit and a ready-to-wear outfit. The one you'll be wearing is a really big skirted dress with lots of bows on it! And it has these really high heeled shoes that are going to go with it, Bella, you'll look amazing! You'll be, like, seven feet tall!"

The color had completely drained from my face, "I … uh … no … I didn't mean—,"

"Bella, what's wrong?" Edward appeared next to me with a tray in his hands. He put it down and took a seat next to me, looking to Alice for answers. She gave him a knowing grin and he immediately relaxed and shook his head at his sister with a smirk.

"What's Bella freaking out about?" Rosalie asked as she, Jasper and Josh sat down.

"She just agreed to be the model for one of the outfits for my final." Alice informed her.

I could barely speak, "No, I didn't mean to …"

"Oh, don't worry Bella you'll be great. Rose do you want to be the model for the other outfit?"

Rosalie shrugged, "No spandex and no sparkly stuff on my boobs."

Alice nodded, "Of course."

I gulped, "Alice …" but I lost my voice.

Alice and Emmett laughed, "Bella, that's what you get for tuning us out!"

I rolled my eyes at them both and continued with my dinner, all the while musing on my earlier thoughts. Throughout the meal I would sneak glances at my suspects, thinking about what I could say… what could I say? "My professor planned my next presentation for the same day I have another test," Emmett was saying, "And I gave him some excuse to try to reschedule, but he wouldn't budge." He turned to Edward, "Do you think I could call and pretend to be a doctor or something to get out of it?"

"There's no way your teacher is that dumb, Emmett. He'll recognize you voice." Edward responded. I instantly broke back into the conversation, sensing my opportunity.

"How about voice modulators?" I offered helpfully, "People use them all the time."

Emmett looked up with his eyebrows arched, "Good idea! Where do I get those?"

I cocked my head to the side, "I don't know … Josh … any idea?" I asked innocently.

Jasper choked on his soda and Josh dropped his fork, "I don't know." He said after a second, "Emmett maybe you could just e-mail him and ask him again." I looked down at my tray, hiding a smirk. _Gotcha!_

The conversation continued as normal after that. Occasionally I caught Jasper and Joshua shooting sly glances at me out of the corner of my eyes, but I kept my eyes away. Edward seemed to notice my unusual silence, "Is everything OK?" He whispered in my ear.

I smiled at him and kissed his lips, "Absolutely." Things were suddenly becoming so clear.

--

* * *

Later that night I was feeling a bit restless so I went to the campus gym to run on the treadmill for a bit. After half an hour I got off, not wanting to push myself too hard before practice tomorrow morning. I grabbed my water bottle and my keys and left the gym. As soon as I turned the corner to head back to my dorms I ran right into a tall figure.

"Ouch!" I said as I bounced off the figure and fell onto my butt.

A hand extended, "Hello, Bella," Josh's voice said. I looked up at his amused face from the ground.

I regained my composure quickly, took his hand and smiled at him. "Hey, Josh. What's up?"

"Oh, not much," he crossed his arms across his chest. "What's up with you?"

I tried to hide a grin. His tone told me _exactly_ what was going on here. "Not much, just went for a run at the gym. What are you doing out?"

He grinned, "Just taking a stroll. So you never mentioned if you ever found out more about your grandparents?"

I grinned right back at him, "Yea, I found out a few things."

"That's good. Anything interesting?"

"A lot of interesting things." I didn't want to just blurt it out, but I knew he was testing me to see how much I'd figured out. "Amazingly unexpected things, too. But it's nice to feel connected to them … I'd never really had that before." I said, admitting the truth out loud, "As it turns out I actually have some things in common with them."

"Oh yea? What, like, eyes? The super-human ability to blush at the drop of a hat?" I laughed at his joke. He soon seemed to realize that I wasn't going to be the first to budge, "So where'd you get the idea for voice modulators earlier today?"

And there it was.

I shrugged innocently, "I don't know, it just came to me. I know people who most likely use them… for … one thing or another."

He furrowed his eyebrows, "What kind of people use voice modulators on a normal basis? Sounds kind of shifty to me."

I chuckled, "No, not shifty. I thought they were kind of weird at first but I've grown strangely close." He nodded. "Have you ever met people like that?"

Josh chuckled, "Yes and they all turned out to be my best friends. It's funny how that happens sometimes."

"Yea. Getting to know them has been quite a journey. Challenging … but fun and a little crazy."

He laughed, "Yes I could see how it would seem crazy."

I raised my eyebrows at him, "So you're admitting you've … _met_ … them?"

He caught himself, "I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Bella." But he couldn't hold back a grin.

I laughed. "Uh-huh. So do you have any advice for me?" I didn't know how open I could be about everything, but at least we were both past pretenses now.

"Advice?"

"Yes, any words of wisdom?"

He thought for a long while before responding, "When I was in my freshman year I came across a letter written by my father where he said that the things we find most challenging are usually the most rewarding at the end… keep that in mind … for the future." I had to think about that for a moment. It was very good advice, and from the sincerity behind his tone, I realized that it was he who had given me good advice and comforting words at a previous time. "Goodnight, Bella. See you at the game on Saturday." The look in his eyes told me he knew what I was thinking, and he was confident in what I knew so far … and what I didn't know yet. He got exactly what he came for.

"Goodnight, Josh. And hey," I called out to him before he could walk away. He turned back towards me, "Thanks."

"For what?" He asked curiously.

I smiled gratefully at him. "For believing I wouldn't break into that safe." And with that, I turned around and headed back to my room.

--

* * *

As I entered my empty room, I kicked off my shoes next to my desk when I noticed another letter had arrived. In neat calligraphy letters was my name printed on the back of the parchment envelope; _Bella_.

I unfolded the letter and read,

_Dear Bella,_

_The time has come for your third task. Are you ready to uncover your third piece of equipment? If you have even a flicker of doubt, then the answer is clearly 'No'. Worried? You shouldn't be, for when readiness finds you, you will, in turn, find the answer ticking away, patiently awaiting your acknowledgement._

_Nevertheless, the task is at hand, so put your intellect to work in due haste, we haven't time for Games. The time we do have (An hour and a half, split into two) is separated by a quarter interval on what some consider a Sabbath day. Under the side thrones of the opposers of the sunless warriors: there will be your hidden treasure. After the given time period, it will not be there for you to find_

_Only those who know how to unlock it can find it._

_Stealth must be upon you for our secret is of highest regard. If questions arise concerning your actions, your journey with us will end at that exact moment._

_Good luck on both your endeavors,_

_-ŤŁ-_

I reread the letter in utter confusion. This one, I was sure, I had no idea what they were talking about.

--

* * *

**Hope you liked it, I had to get a few clues out in this chapter… lemme know if you spot them. Any guesses as to what the third task will require?**


	45. The Third Test

I lay in bed and went to figure out what the heck they were talking about in this letter.

_If you have even a flicker of doubt, then the answer is clearly 'No'_. Well that didn't help, of course I was worried. …_you will, in turn, find the answer ticking away, patiently awaiting your acknowledgement_.

Ticking away … the answer to the previous riddle had been time … so the third piece of equipment was a clock! Yes! Clue number one; check! OK, now for the when and where.

_Nevertheless, the task is at hand, so put your intellect to work in due haste, we haven't time for Games. The time we do have (An hour and a half, split into two) is separated by a quarter interval on what some consider a Sabbath day. Under the side thrones of the opposers of the sunless warriors: there will be your hidden treasure._

On the Sabbath day? Sunday? … An hour and a half split into two is the time they've allowed for it, so two 45 minute periods. Will I have two chances? Oh crap, does that mean it'll be harder to find? … Wait no … _is separated by a quarter interval_ … a quarter … what does that mean? I looked back over the entire letter … this whole thing is about time. It must be referring to time, so, a quarter what? … Oh! A quarter of an hour is a fifteen minute interval … between two 45 minute periods… _we haven't time for Games_… Games… the soccer game!! A Sabbath day could be Saturday, according to the Jewish religion. Oh my gosh, the mission is going to be at the same time of my soccer game!

I was suddenly panicking. I can't miss this game, its too important. It's a championship game, the Coach will kill me! And my teammates would hate me!

Wait, maybe I wouldn't have to miss it. I searched the letter urgently for more clues; _Under the side thrones of the opposers of the sunless warriors…_ The sunless warriors? Who … The Vampires! The Meyer University Vamps! It wasn't just _during_ the soccer game, it was _at_ the soccer game! Oh thank goodness I wouldn't have to miss it!

But wait a minute, there are going to be tons of people there … it's not like I can just wander around unnoticed while there's a game going on, I'm one of the players! I guess that's what they meant when they asked how 'cunning' I could be in the last letter. Damn. I'm really not very good at being sneaky.

So somehow I'm going to have to get away from my side and _under the thrones of the opposers_… the opposing teams bleachers? Or side lines? No, the bleachers wouldn't be their thrones, that would be for their supporters. Their 'thrones' were the benches on the side lines, definitely. I have to do it during the game or else it won't be there and I have to get it without being seen.

Oh sure … no freaking problem… I'll just throw on my spare invisibility cloak for the occasion. No biggie.

_Stealth must be upon you for our secret is of highest regard. If questions arise concerning your actions, your journey with us will end at that exact moment._

Well if that wasn't crystal clear … Oh man, I really can't screw this one up. How the hell do they expect me to pull this off? And what does the rest of the letter mean? _Only those who know how to unlock it can find it._ Unlock what? Should I bring the key they gave me? But I have nothing to unlock!

_Oh, this is giving me a headache_, I thought angrily. I shoved the letter away and went to go take a shower. I have until tomorrow at noon, when the game starts, to figure out a plan of action.

Great.

--

* * *

I barely slept that night.

I'd gone up to Edward's room to try to get in a few hours but even his presence couldn't ease my unrest. I ended up falling asleep for maybe two hours in which I'd had a dream where I was running at full speed on a deserted road trying to reach the little town at the end … but with each step I took it seemed to get further away. I awoke with a start and wasn't able to fall back asleep.

That was at four in the morning.

Unable to stay asleep I kissed a sleeping Edward on the cheek, tucked him into the bed and went back down to my room, which was empty; Alice was staying over at Jasper's. I made some very strong tea and sat down to look over the clues again. The game was in eight hours and I still didn't know what I was going to do. The way I saw it I had two options. The first one was to skip the game completely, pretend to be sick and sneak into the stadium on the opposing team's side. That would probably be the easiest option but I had a team counting on me. I couldn't let them down … not to mention the fact that Coach Graysly would never forgive me for missing such an important game when she'd seen me in perfect health all this week during practices.

My second option was to go through with the game anyway and try to sneak over to the other team's side. I was pretty sure at this point (after having read the thing over and over again) that there was going to be a clock of some kind waiting for me.

_The time we have … is separated by a quarter interval …_ So I have to get the clock sometime before the end of the game. My best bet was probably during half time. But how the heck was I going to sneak out of the locker room where the coaches were going to give us more pep talks and go over plays, and go to the other team's side while there was a ton of commotion going on because of half time? There was just no way to do it.

_I'm so screwed_, I thought to myself. I was completely panicking now … what if I fail? Would they give me another chance? _What if I'm seen?_ Well that much I was sure of. They made it pretty damn clear in the letter that if I was seen, then I was out. I felt the slightest wave of nausea at the thought … What if I wasn't strong/brave/cunning enough to get accepted into the League? I would be so ashamed … my grandmother was able to do this and I'm pretty sure they challenged her as much as they were challenging me. I _had_ to do this. I_had_ to pass. It was the only option.

The next few hours were spent going over possible strategies for my plan. I decided that I couldn't miss the game no matter what so I had to figure out a way…

Nothing.

I had absolutely no idea.

Even if I did manage to sneak over there, the object was still very tangible and my soccer uniform didn't have pockets. How was I supposed to get the thing out of there?

I had a very sick feeling that this wasn't going to end well.

"Bella!" a very perky Alice jazzed through the door at around 7, "I didn't think you'd be up yet. Are you getting ready now? It's still early," But when I didn't respond she took a closer look at me. "Bella, are you OK?" Alice asked as she came over to me, "You look awfully pale."

I nodded grimly, "I'm fine, just a bit nervous."

She rubbed my back, "Don't be. You're amazing! You're going to do great!." She went to the fridge and handed me glass of orange juice and a granola bar. "Here you go, breakfast!" I smiled gratefully and took a sip. But the moment it touched my lips I felt another wave of nausea come over me. "Are you sure you're alright, Bella, you look positively green!"

I nodded again, "I'm just a little tense about the game, Alice, I'll be OK."

"Bella, if you're feeling sick, maybe you should skip the game …"

I shook my head, "No. I can't let the team down, we've trained so hard. I'll just have to deal with it."

"Bella—,"

I interrupted her, "I have to take a shower now," She nodded, but her face looked worried. "Honestly, Alice, I just have a lot on my mind. But I'll be OK."

She sighed, "OK, Bella but you need to calm down. Nothing is ever as bad as it seems, you just need to stop thinking about it so much. Even if you mess up, we'll all still love you. What's the worst that could happen?"

_Oh, I don't know, me getting dropped from the Twilight League and losing the game_, I thought to myself. But I didn't say it out loud, instead I just cocked my head to the side and shrugged. I felt a sick all of the sudden and despite the fact that I was going to be getting sweaty, I took a quick shower anyway, trying to ease my mind as much as I could in the warm water. I used my favorite strawberry scented shampoo which always perked me up slightly, but I soon realized that it would take a lot more than shampoo to loosen up this time … _It's gonna take a miracle to—_

And then a thought struck me. I dropped my green loofah as a plan finally occurred to me…

My eyes widened… _this could work_, I thought as my mind went through the details my new scheme would involve. I quickly finished up and bolted out of the shower, drying myself off as best I could. I towel dried my hair quickly, wrapped my aquamarine robe around myself and ran out into the dorm room and directly onto my laptop to do some very quick research.

I typed in the letters into the terminal; _Lewis Carroll University Soccer_. As soon as the links came up, I clicked onto the appropriate one. I spent fifteen minutes memorizing what I needed, then another ten looking up the times the stores in town opened.

I changed into my soccer uniform quickly, put my hair up into a ponytail, and threw my wallet, my keys and a few other necessities into my gym bag. "Alice I have to go, I'll see you later!"

"Whoa!" She said, "It's only 8:30, where are you headed off to so early?"

"I have to go pick up a few supplies before the game, but I'll see you there, right?"

She nodded excitedly, "Of course! We're going to be right in the front!"

I smiled at her, "Cool! Can't wait!"

"Hey, you seem happier! What happened in the time it took you to get ready?"

I shrugged, "I don't know, I guess I just got pumped for the game…"

She laughed, "Good! I don't like sad Bella. I like bubbly bouncy Bella better."

I grinned at her, "Try saying that again five times and fast."

She chuckled, "Bubbly bouncy Bella better, bubbly bouncy Bella better, bubbly bouncy Belbe— Darn!"

I shook my head at my insane roommate, bid her goodbye and headed out the door.

--

* * *

A couple hours later we were marching out into the field. It was a gloriously nice day outside and we'd stopped using the indoor field back in March. The bleachers were bigger outside, much more accommodating and it seemed that every single seat was occupied. I looked over to our side and saw my friends all seated in the front row; Melanie, Joshua, Jasper, Alice, Edward, Emmett, Rosalie, Logan and a few others were all cheering as we entered the pitch, all of them wearing the school colors and t-shirts with mine and Tanya's names and numbers on them, except for Jasper, Emmett and Edward who were wearing their football jerseys as they did to every game. It had become a tradition. I beamed at them when I saw them and they cheered louder upon seeing me and Tanya. Alice had borrowed my away-game jersey and was sporting it for the occasion, with a chic belt around the bust and the sleeves tucked it; it looked like a designer top put over her own jeans and pumps. She was jumping up in excitement and clapping as we waved towards them. I met Edward's eyes and he grinned crookedly at me, melting my heart and instantly calming my nerves. I blew him a kiss and his grin grew even larger.

I watched Joshua, Melanie and Jasper whisper something to each other. Was it just me, or did they seem a little bummed about something?

As we settled into the side lines I eyed the other team and their supporters. They were staring at us, a little nervously, I could tell, but with a certain air of confidence. Their mascot was a Mad Hatter with a very large, oversized head and bright orange top hat. He had on Yankee-doodle style costume only instead of patriotic colors it was done in green and orange. He was stomping around like crazy, trying to enthuse his side of the crowd along with their cheerleaders. I looked around, deciding how best to put my plans into actions. I tried to see if there was a box or anything stuffed under one of their benches but I couldn't see anything from where I was. In any case, I'd have to wait until half time to go about my business but until them I had a game to play … and an opposing crowd to scope out.

"Ladies, huddle in!" called Coach Graysly. We instantly jogged into a large circle for our pre-game pep talk. "Girls, you've earned this championship game! These guys don't know what they're in for. Now listen to me, I want you to go out there, and I want you to show them who they're messing with! This game is OURS! Right from the very beginning, you understand?"

"Yes Coach!!" We said in unison.

"I can't hear you ladies!" She yelled, pumping us up, "I said DO YOU UNDERSTAND!"

"YES COACH!" came our excited voices again, this time with much more enthusiasm.

"Take a look at your crowd, ARE YOU GONNA LET 'EM DOWN?!"

"NO WAY!"

"Then let 'em here you!! What are we gonna do today, Vampires?!!"

"WIN!!" we cried. Upon hearing us the crowd riled up. It made my heart soar; man I loved this part of the game. Hearing the crowd go nuts made me want to play harder, better.

"One more time, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO TODAY?!"

"WIN!!!" The crowd went nuts.

"Now let me hear you; Go Vamps on three, ready?!" She put her hand in the middle and my team and I threw our hands in.

"ONE! TWO! THREE! GO VAMPS!!" We bellowed before breaking apart and turning to the pitch, thunderous roars from the crowd behind us.

We patted each other on the back as we ran onto the field and took our positions. Tanya and I pounded fists as she went off to her side and I stayed towards the center. I looked into the face of an opposing player, she had the most serene look on her face, like she her mind was a million miles away. Strange. She met my eyes and her smile lessened; she stuck her nose in the air and looked away. _OK then,_ I thought. Whatever, it didn't matter anyway, she was going down.

The game started and within seconds we had possession of the ball. I was barely aware of the crowd cheering as I followed my team down the field, never taking my eyes off the ball. One of the girls on the other team got in the way and my teammate passed the ball to Tanya who expertly maneuvered it towards the goal, bypassing the other team. She was quickly being blocked by others and then she spotted me. Its funny but everyone always assumes that since I'm small I won't be much competition._Big mistake,_ I thought as Tanya kicked the ball over to me. As quickly as I could, I wove the ball around the other players, making my way towards the goal. The other players didn't see me coming, and sensing my opening, I wound my foot back as though I was going to kick the ball into the hands of the awaiting goalie, but I faked her out, moved the ball around her and kicked hard.

"GOAL!!!!" I barely heard over the loudspeaker as the crowd went nuts. What a perfect way to start the game.

However our happiness didn't last long. During the period we suffered through many penalties, cheap shots and scares as the other team almost scored three times. I don't understand how they were getting around us, they just kept making the most ridiculous moves. It was insane the way they played, they didn't ever do what you expected them to. Thank goodness for our killer goalie that made sure we stayed one point ahead.

It was incredibly tiring, trying to stay one step ahead of them because they were so unpredictable. And they all looked so happy all the time, were they all on drugs? Our coach kept screaming out orders to us, calling time outs and changing strategies. By the time we had one minute left to the period, I was exhausted. Tanya had just stolen the ball from them and was making her way down the field when the other team, apparently pissed that they hadn't scored yet, went for a revolting evil play. They circled around her and seconds later she was down. I didn't even see what happened! I ran over towards her but the other team was in possession. She waved to show me she was fine so I chased the ball, getting in the way of the girl in possession, the same one who was daydreaming earlier. Her look had gone from surrealistically flighty to menacing but it didn't faze me, I went right at her and she knew I was coming. She tried to get around me but I moved her out of my way, taking the ball with me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my friends bouncing around happily.

I went as fast as I could, trying to get the ball to the goal before the other team could catch up with me. The other girl was right on my tail but I immediately passed to Tanya who was waiting with a huge grin on her face. She immediately kicked the ball into the goal right before the time buzzer went off.

"YES!" I screamed as I ran to her and pulled her into a hug. We jumped around as our team came forward and patted us on the backs. I was exhilarated as we ran to the sides to our happy coach. She was clapping and barking out praises. I looked at my friends who were in the front row, they were cheering like crazy. I was so happy to see them that I ran right to Edward who scooped me up in a huge hug, lifting me off the ground.

"Sorry, I'm all sweaty!" I said to him.

"Don't be silly, you're beautiful." He said to me with a grin, "You were amazing out there."

"Thanks!" I said as I waved and pounded fists with the rest of my friends before heading out to the locker room with the rest of my team. _OK, _I thought to myself, _now the real games begin_.

--

* * *

"Ladies you have seven minutes to take a break then I want you all back here, understand?" Coach said to us. We nodded. 

I had seven minutes. Without talking to anyone, I grabbed my gym bag and headed out of the locker room and out to the bathroom that was in between our locker room and the one for the opposing team. Faster than I would've thought possible I went into a stall, pulled out lime green wind breaker pants and threw them over my shorts, then pulled an orange wind breaker jacket and zipped it up over my top, tucking everything in so you wouldn't see the Meyer U colors anywhere. I also pulled out a blonde wig, fitted it on top of my head and put on my oversized dark sunglasses. I left my bag in the stall, locking it and crawling under the door to get out. Thank _goodness_ they kept these things clean.

On the way out of the bathroom I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and gave a hysterical snort of laughter. My clothes were slightly disheveled from how quickly I threw them on and my wig was a mess and all over my face. I looked like bad hangover Barbie.

_Note to self, never go platinum blonde._

I ran out through the other team's exit, and I watched the cheerleaders from our team were already on the field, doing their routines. I kept my gaze down and went to the side lines, instantly looking under the benches.

"Can I help you?" I looked up to see a mean looking man in a Lewis Carroll Soccer Official shirt.

Damn.

"Um …" I said in a high pitch, trying to disguise my voice, "No, I'm just looking for something."

He crossed his arms across his chest, "What are you looking for, exactly?"

"Oh, I'm the towel girl and one of the team members lost her lucky towel." _Oh God, I suck at lying!_

"Her lucky towel?" He looked at me skeptically.

"Yea, it's kind of like a security blanket. She needs it to play. Do you mind if I look around for it… she'll kill me if she doesn't get it back?"

"Which girl?"

"Er … excuse me?" I played for time. Oh couldn't he just get out of my way, already?

"I said which girl?"

"Um … Beth …" Please God let there be a Beth on the team!

"Beth…?"

"Yea Beth … look she's getting really nervous in there … you wouldn't want her to lose because of a confidence drop, would you? She's in true freak out mode … suffering from towel deficiency. And also I think it might be….um, her time of the month. She really shouldn't be messed with right now, sir."

He blushed slightly but kept his eyes on me. "What does it look like?"

_Oh jeez! It's a towel, you moron! What do you think it looks like?_ But instead of saying that, I opted for, "Its green … kind of small … she usually chucks it under the benches during the game."

He nodded, "alright, go ahead and check."

"Thank you, sir." I left him and frantically searched under the benches … but there was no box. No clock anywhere.

What?!

The blood left my face suddenly; I could've sworn that's what the clue was pointing at. Did I guess wrong? Oh no! What the heck was I going to do?! What if I didn't get in now?

I looked up into the bleachers. It was jam packed with people …there's no way I'd be able to check them all. And the clue had made me sure that it was a clock. Everything was pointing to time. It had to be time… and it hinted towards a tangible object so it had to be a clock … or a watch.

Speaking of time, I was running out of it. I had to get back to my team. My heart dropped in my chest and tears filled my sunglass covered eyes. I failed a mission. That was it.

I did another scan of the benches … no box … nothing… oh wait! Then I spotted something familiar… it looked like parchment taped up under the benches. _Got it!_

I ran over to it, it was a parchment envelope. _OK, not what I was expecting… _I felt it to see if I could feel something in there … nothing but paper…_ Where's the clock?_ But my time was running out._ Whatever._ I stuffed it in my pocket and made my way out, but not before glancing at my team's side of the field. Everyone was bouncing along with the cheerleaders and our team mascot … except for three people: Joshua, Jasper … and Logan.

The three of them were staring towards me with strange, looks on their faces. The second I looked back at them they turned away. I smiled to myself and ran out. The other team was starting to file back onto the field. I accidentally ran into one of them; the daydreaming girl. "Ouch!" she said.

"Hey Beth!" called the man from earlier, "Did you find your towel."

_That's my cue to bolt!_ "Sorry Beth," I mumbled as I ran off the field and back into the bathroom again, crawling back under the door and changing. I didn't have much time left before I had to be back inside for the coach's next pep talk. I stuffed the clothes back into my bag along with the envelope and ran back into my locker room where the rest of my team was already huddled.

I was about to join them when the Coach pulled me aside. "Swan, where the hell did you go? You're late!"

I gulped, "Sorry Coach, I just went outside."

Her gray eyes stared right into mine, "What for?"

"What for? Oh … um … I had to" I said the first thing that came to my mind "… pray." _Oh God, please forgive me._

"Pray?" That was clearly the last thing she was expecting.

I nodded, "Yeah … um my half time prayer … it's this little thing I do during every game. You've seen me leave before, right Coach?"

She looked at me and furrowed her brows, "Oh … right, yeah. Good. A little prayer never hurt anybody. Come on, maybe we should all do it. Let's get the team on it."

My eyes widened and I nearly fainted, "What?! N-no it's really just a private little thing I've always done … its best not to jinx it."

She shook her head, "Nonsense, Swan. The more the better."

My heart was beating frantically. What had I gotten myself into? "Um … OK … but only the soccer part … it's just a little poem really …" _Shut up Bella, just shut up!_ "I, um, say it after I do a few Hail Mary's and a couple Our Fathers."

"Jeez, Swan, I had no idea you were so faithful," _Neither did I._ Coach got in the middle of everyone and called their attention. "OK ladies, Swan here is going to lead us in a little prayer," _Oh crap._ "Keep it short, Swan, we've got tactics to go over."

"Yes, Coach."

_A short one…Good food, good meat, good God let's eat? No that prayer won't work…_Panic swelled in my chest.

I took a deep breath and made the mistake of looking around at my teammates, who were all staring up at me. I looked to Tanya who had one eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face. Well, honestly, from the blind panic I could tell was plastered on my face, anyone could tell that I had no idea what the heck I was doing, really. I thought back to my days in Sunday School and prayed for a really good prayer.

_Lying about praying, now there's a sin for my next confession, the priest will love that one._ I thought to myself before words started falling out of my mouth.

"Dear God," I began, "Thanks for today … and for the great weather … uh … you know it all … let us catch the ball … and make a goal … and save our soul! … We won't sin … if you … uh … help us win … Thanks again …and, uh, Amen."

To my utter surprise, everyone joined in with a vigorous "Amen" afterwards. I immediately took a seat next to Tanya who had a hand clamped over her mouth, hiding a laugh. She shot me a look that said 'what-the-heck-was-that'? I just shook my head, my face was a brilliant shade of red by that point.

Coach Graysly got up and took her place in the center, "Thank you, Swan ... that was … inspiring. OK, ladies, listen up…" she continued to discuss tactics while I tried to hide my humiliation.

After a few more minutes we headed back out into the field. The crowd cheered some more as we came out. The Meyer mascot, a big Vampire complete with fangs, a blue Meyer jersey on and a cloak, jumped up and down and patted each of us on the back as we entered. With all the excitement in the air, it was hard not to forget all your troubles and get into the game.

We huddled into a circle as the game was about to resume, threw our hands in and pumped out another "GO VAMPS!" while the crowd shouted in approval. In seconds we were back out on the field.

The second half of the game had turned brutal. The other team, obviously tired of not scoring, was taking it out on our players. We kept getting awarded penalties, but they were on us before we could make anything good out of them. By the time we were in the last four minutes of the game, they had scored one goal and were in possession of the ball. We were all exhausted, but still maintaining our momentum and we definitely did not want them tying up the game. We wanted this finished.

We called for another time out and huddle in by the sides, half of our team was bloody. I tried not to look at them and held my breath; the smell of blood made me incredibly sick. "Ladies, you have to stop number 14 and number 23. They're the ones most likely to score." We nodded as we listened to the rest of her advice. I was completely out of breath and turned away from the circle, breathing heavily through my mouth so as not to smell the blood.

The whistle blew and we headed back out into the field. Number 23, it turned out was the Beth girl and let me tell you that she was definitely not daydreaming anymore. Her eyes were locked on me as mine were on her. There was no way she was scoring, not on my watch. I immediately gathered up all my strength and went for her as the game resumed.

It was complete chaos. Her feet were moving fast but mine were faster. I took the ball away from her and sped in the other direction. "Sorry Beth," I muttered, more to myself than to anybody else, but I could've sworn I heard her gasp. In minutes the ball had been passed from one of my team members to the other, always keeping it as far away from the other players as possible. This wasn't even about scoring anymore, we just had to make sure to keep the ball on our side so they couldn't tie the game. We were winning and that was that.

I tried to keep myself open but the stupid girl wouldn't get out of my way. One of my teammates looked around at me, ready to give me the ball again but Beth caught look and knew our plans. Out of nowhere I felt her trip me, pretending to run forward. I fell hard onto the ground as the ball was being passed to me. She could have stopped it and taken it, but instead she let it come straight at me.

The ball instantly collided with the side of my head, the force of it made me slam my head onto the ground … hard. Then everything went dark.

--

* * *

"Bella!" Edward's voice screamed out at me. I opened my eyes to see him standing over me, pure horror splashed across his magnificent face.

"Hey." I looked around and saw that the Coach, Tanya, Emmett, some other team members and a medical personnel huddled around me. I was on the ground.

"Swan, don't move." Coach ordered. "You hit your head really hard."

But I didn't feel too bad. Just a little headache, but other than that I felt pretty strong. "No. I'm fine." Against orders, I sat up, shook off my headache and stood, allowing Edward to help me to my feet. "Who has the ball?"

Tanya put her hands on my shoulder, "We do. You get a penalty kick, but if you don't feel up to it we can have someone else do it."

"Did they catch her tripping me?"

Edward nodded, "Yes, Bella, they saw it. How do you feel?" He was rubbing my back soothingly.

"I feel fine," And that was mostly true, except for the fact that my head felt like it was going to explode. "I want to take the shot."

"No way, Swan." Coach shook her head, "You're sitting out."

"No, please, Coach. I promise I feel fine." I pleaded with her, "That was a deliberate shot, I can't let her get away with that. I want my penalty shot."

Coach took in a deep breath. "I don't know." She looked over to the medic who came by my side and started firing questions at me.

"How's your vision?" He asked. "Are you seeing double of anything? Is anything off color?"

I nodded, "Yep, I'm seeing red and that won't change unless I freaking draw some blood from the other team, now will you let me back in the game already?"

Edward and Tanya both threw their heads back and laughed. Coach Graysly chuckled, "You're insane, Swan. But I like your attitude. You sure you're OK?" I nodded confidently, my eyes immediately searching for Beth … Payback was going to be sweet. "Go out there and kill 'em!!" She roared.

I nodded, turning to hug Edward and wave at my friends who were all seated with worried looks on their faces. Melanie had latched onto Josh's arm and they both were shooting angry glares onto the other team. Jasper was next to a horror stricken Rosalie and was holding onto Alice who had her hands covering her mouth and tear stains on her face. "Bella, please be careful." Emmett said to me, gripping my shoulder. He looked very concerned but there was a sense of relief to his tone. I was touched that he was so worried about me.

"I will." I hugged him. "Tell everyone to stop worrying, I'm fine. And give Alice a hug for me, she looks like she could use one."

He grinned and went back to the others. Edward pulled me into him and kissed my cheek, "Go get 'em, killer." I laughed as he let me go. I watched him return to his seat as the Coach and the medic took their positions at the sides.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Tanya asked me. "That looked pretty bad."

"Oh yea," I assured her, "I'm fine. But she has to go down. I'm thinking I may want to pull another Bertha." Tanya laughed and nodded. We took our positions again.

The stupid girl who tripped me and let me get hit by the ball was smiling at me. I smiled right back at her. "Thanks for the penalty shot, Beth." I said sweetly. She just glared at me.

"Just a payback for knocking me down earlier." She retorted icily. "What were you doing on our side anyway?"

I just shrugged, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

The whistle blew and I was off, with her right on my tail. I pretended to wind my foot back to kick the ball and instead held it out for her to trip. As soon as she began to fall, I felt her try to grab me and something ripped my jersey around the abdomen and I felt a sharp pain, but I ignored it. I was too full of adrenaline I kicked the ball over to Tanya, who was laughing. She wove expertly around the players and we followed her, making sure to keep the ball away from the other team. There were seconds left in the game. She kicked the ball over to another player who caught it and slammed it between the goal. Unfortunately it was blocked by the goalie. The ball ricocheted back onto the field where I did my favorite bicycle kick, rebounding it right back into the goal posts.

"GOAL!!"

There was a deafening sound as the crowd erupted into joyful cheers. I ran onto the sidelines with the rest of my team, shouting with glee the entire time. We huddled in for a huge hug. I squeezed Tanya super tight. "We won!" I shouted.

"I know!!" She shouted back happily.

We both ran to our friends waiting in the sides. Alice reached me before anyone else could and she hugged me tight, "Bella you were so good! I _told_ you you'd rock it!"

I laughed and hugged everyone else in turn. Emmett picked me up in a crushing bear hug, jumping around the entire time. I laughed. When he put me back down, I turned to Edward who pulled me into him and kissed me deeply. "You were incredible," he said when we pulled apart.

"Thank you!" I had to scream because it was so loud. He went to congratulate Tanya as I hugged Jasper.

Josh came up behind him and hugged me in turn, "That was an incredible game." He said with a grin.

I smiled, "Thank you! It was really exhilarating!" But there was a loud thumping in my head.

"It looked really challenging." He said, his tone giving away nothing.

I looked at his questioning expression and understood what he meant, "It was … challenging and not what I expected … but I think we pulled through really well at the end." I nodded to him.

He smiled, "Good. Sometimes the things you expect turn out to be right under your nose while you've been searching for them in the oddest of places."_ Huh?_

I meant to say something else to him but Melanie came up and pulled me into a delighted hug, telling me congratulations. I hugged her back and thanked her as we joined our group. There was talk of a party later … or something… I could barely hear them … I smelled something rusty … I looked down to see my blue jersey had a dark stain around a small rip in the abdomen. There was suddenly a strange ringing in my ear. I took a bad step and almost tripped. Mel steadied me and asked me if I was OK but I could hardly hear her… I couldn't really focus on anything … things were starting to blur. I heard her call Edward's name, and then I felt someone catch me as I fell once again.

That's all I remember before all the lights went out once more.

**--**

* * *

**Uh oh, cliffhanger! Don't worry, the next chapter is done and will be up in an hour or so, maybe a little longer if this dinner I'm cooking doesn't turn out right. **

**Anyone know how to make a roast? How can you tell if its done?  
**

**Review please! **


	46. Taking Care of Bella

Beep...

...Beep...

_Is that my alarm?_

Beep

_Do I have class now?_ … I tried to think, my eyes were still closed. I must've dozed off at some point last night … Right? I don't know… _Oh my gosh, the game! Was I late for the game?!_

My eyes sprung open. The first thing I saw was white. A very white ceiling. It didn't make sense. My dorm room had a creamy ceiling. I tried to get up.

"Bella?" I heard several voices say my name at once. I looked up to see a lot of people sitting around me. Edward came forward, his face looked so sad. He steadied me. "Bella, ... thank God you woke up…" The grief in his face struck me. _Why was he so upset?_ My first instinct was to comfort him.

I went to grasp his hands before a tear-stained Alice came up next to me, "Don't move, okay? We'll get the nurse."

I was so confused, "What happened?" There were so many people standing around this room in the hospital. I blinked a few times to see if I was really awake. Jasper was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and relief plastered over his face. Emmett, next to him, had the same look as he held onto a melancholy Rosalie. Tanya was seated next to Melanie and Logan, all three of them sighing in relief. "Oh crap, we did win, right?"

"Bella you don't remember?" Alice asked as she pushed a button next to me. "You were hit in the head during the game."

My eyes were wide, "But we _won_, right?!" I shrieked.

"Bella, we did win." Tanya said soothingly from her seat. "I'm so sorry, I should've taken your shot, and we never should have let you play after you hit your head so hard." Her voice was thick, as though she was holding back tears. Logan went over to her and pulled her in for a comforting hug.

"Huh?" What was going on?

Edward spoke up at last, "Bella, you fainted after the game."

"_After_ the game, right? We still won, three to nothing?"

Logan chuckled, "Bella you really do have a one track mind." I laughed at his joke, my head pounding a little. Upon hearing me laugh, everyone chuckled a little, relief was prominent on each one of their faces.

"Yes, Bella," Edward said, "_after_ the game. But now you have a concussion. You came around in the ambulance but they put you went out again."

"I was in an ambulance?"

"Yes, yesterday" Alice said in a small voice, "Edward and I rode in it with you. You don't remember?"

"No. Wait, _yesterday?_The game was yesterday? What time is it?"

"Three thirty on Sunday." Jasper said.

"Oh." I was silent, "You guys have been here since yesterday?"

Melanie shook her head, "No, we just got here about half an hour ago. We were here for a while yesterday too. Are you sure you feel alright?" She stood up and came to my bed beside Edward.

I nodded, "Yea, my head hurts a little, but other than that I'm fine. And Tanya, stop blaming yourself, no one could've stopped me from going back into that game." She smiled at me, wiping a tear from her eye. At that point the door opened and in came a nurse, followed closely by none other than Carlisle Cullen.

"Hello Bella," Carlisle said cheerily. "How are you feeling?" He had a chart in his hands and a stethoscope around his neck as he came around my bed. Alice moved aside for him.

"Carlisle!" I couldn't hide my surprise. "I'm fine. Please don't tell me you came all the way out here for me…" My face was getting redder by the minute.

He smiled kindly, "It's no trouble. I received the call from Edward and Alice yesterday and I came right out. But I'm glad to see that you're doing much better. Just a small concussion, but we did a few tests to make sure it was nothing more serious."

"Th-thank you."

He turned to his son, "Edward, maybe you should escort the group out into the waiting while I talk to Bella for a moment."

Edward nodded and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before he and everyone else made their way out. "So how come I was in here for so long if it was only a small concussion?"

"We had to rule out any other possibilities. Besides you also had a bad scratch on your stomach, not very deep but we did give you a few stitches. Looks like someone dug their nails into you." I winced, thinking of Beth. Why, that little devil!

"Will I be able to go back home today?"

"I don't see why not. You just have to take it easy for a day or two. That head injury was pretty bad. Your head got attacked from two sides, first the hard impact of the ball and then the collision with the ground. You're very lucky, Bella, an injury like that is serious. I don't know how you were able to keep playing after that, most would have not been able to see straight." His expression was grave.

I shrugged, "It didn't feel that serious. The only reason I passed out was because I smelled the blood… I faint at the smell of it."

He smiled, "Well, you're alright now and that's what matters." He used his stethoscope to check my breathing. "Now I want you to promise me that you're going to take the next few days to rest. The soccer season is over, I'm told, so that shouldn't be an issue, but Alice tells me you like to go running and such. None of that." He gave me a stern look, "I've made your friends promise not to make you do anything too strenuous in the upcoming week."

"I promise," I said thinking that it seemed like an odd request for him to make to my friends. Then I looked up and noticed something on his right hand: a very familiar looking ring. I gasped.

"Is something the matter?"

"N-no! I just … remembered something."

His eyebrows furrowed in a curious look which was awfully familiar. _My goodness, he looks so much like Edward._ "OK then. Do you have any questions for me?"

I wanted so desperately to ask about the League, but I knew that those kinds of questions would not be appropriate. I was a pledge and I had to work with only the information I was given. I couldn't go blabbing out questions to a League member just because he wasn't in the school anymore. But I did have one. "Did you know my mother?"

That question took him by surprise. "Excuse me?"

"My mother, before she died, or possibly before she was married. Did you ever meet her?" He thought about it for a second. "Her name was Renee. Renee Alexandra Hayden."

Recognition lit up his eyes, "Oh yes! I remember her now. We used to play together when we were younger. I knew you looked familiar!" He chuckled, "My parents and your grandparents were very close friends. She used to come to all the dinner parties my parents or hers held until she was in her later teen years…" His voice trailed off.

"What was she like when she was younger?"

"Well she looked exactly like you." He smiled, "And she was always the one to come up with a plan to get us out of going to the dinner parties. They usually ended up with us getting into trouble."

I laughed, "That sounds a lot like her. I'm sorry to be asking you this stuff, I was just wondering…"

He pulled up a seat, "Its no trouble, Bella. I imagine you don't have enough memories of her, having lost her at such a young age. I'm happy to help fill in any blanks. Is there a particular reason you're asking?"

"No," I bit my lip, I couldn't say anything about the League, but I knew that anyone in it was connected somehow. I had figured that if Josh's grandparents and mine were close friends, that would have been true for everyone else's. So it made sense that they would know about my family. And I wanted so desperately to know more about them. "Did you know my grandmother."

He chuckled, "Yes, her I knew very well. She was my godmother."

I felt my eyes widen. "Can you …" I didn't want to be too pushy, "Would you mind telling me about her?"

"Absolutely. She was always laughing and questioning things. At parties she spent more time playing with us kids than with the adults." I smiled at that. "She also looked exactly like you. She was dearly loved by everyone who met her, and she loved everyone in return. She was extremely kind at heart and a very free spirit. She would have been so pleased to see how well you're doing now." I felt a tear begin its journey down my face, I wiped it away quickly, "She was so excited when you were born. I remember seeing so many baby pictures … every time I would see them after you were born, which was quite often since she and her husband, my parents and the rest of their friends were so close, she would have a new picture of you. I distinctly remember one of you with your hands and face covered in peanut butter, laughing hysterically at the camera." My face went a bright red and Carlisle laughed. "Don't worry, I'm sure you've grown out of the smearing-peanut-butter phase by now."

"I should hope so," I joked. We both laughed, and I held my head at the slight pain.

That action didn't get past Carlisle, "I'm going to prescribe some pain killers for you, nothing too strong, but it'll keep your headaches at bay for the next day or so. If you're still having them after three days, I want you to call me, I'll contact the doctors here at this hospital and we'll have you in again."

I nodded. I wanted to know more, but I sensed that he had given me enough … more than I ever could have hoped. My mother and my grandmother were very alive in my memory now. For that I was eternally grateful.

"Do you have any more questions for me?" He asked gently.

"Not really … except …"

"Yes?"

"Do you have any pictures?" I asked in a meek voice. I'd never really spoken to anyone who knew of my family before and I was feeling very vulnerable. "Of them, I mean?"

He smiled kindly and held my shoulder, "I do. I'll send you all the ones I can find as soon as I get back." I nodded quietly, willing my happy tears not to spill over. Somehow, I thought speaking about them would be worse, harder. Carlisle made it comforting. "I can understand your need to connect with your family, Bella. You lost so much of yours… It was a tragedy. But it seems to me that you've gained an even bigger family since you've gotten here."

I smiled, knowing exactly what he was referring to. "I'm really lucky to have found such good friends." I was really touched to see so many of them here in the hospital.

"There were so many more here before you woke up. That's the funny thing about the University you're attending. The friends I made here were for life, I consider them family and I've never lost touch with them. It was that way for my parents as well, and for your grandparents. I have a … _feeling_ … that the same will happen for you." I looked up at him and he hid a smile … was he admitting to …?

He laughed quietly at the look on my face and patted my shoulder, "Just remember to have fun, Bella. And don't judge things by how scary they may seem … you're never really alone… and in the end, what will matter most is the outcome … and trust me, it's worth it."

He left me completely confused as he went out to get Edward and the rest of my friends.

--

* * *

Alice put a bottle of water next to me and a plate of cookies. "No getting up except to go to the bathroom, missy!" She warned as she gathered her large navy blue tote bag she used to carry her book in. My _goodness_, if one more person warned me about getting up! It's not like I would _explode! _

"I'm fine!" It was Monday and everyone was in class. Carlisle had left yesterday and my frantic father called me a thousand times since then, apologizing profusely for being unable to get a flight out in time. I had assured him that I was OK, as I had everyone else. Of course, between classes, everyone was coming by to check on me. Edward had sprinted back to the dorms in the ten minutes he had between two of his classes just to kiss me and make sure I didn't need anything. Which was very sweet … except I don't think he'll be doing it again anytime soon since I yelled at him for going through such trouble for me. I swear, you think he'd never heard of a cell phone!

"Sure, sure," Alice said, "But seriously, call if you need anything. Dad sad you needed rest and yet you insist on spending your resting time studying." She gestured toward the things that littered my bed: my laptop, a textbook and my notes from class.

I crossed my arms across my chest stubbornly, "I refuse to fall behind in my classes. Nor will I let you be late for yours, now go! You can lecture me when you get back."

She giggled, "OK, I'm going. You're no fun as a patient."

"Yea well, you're too strict as a nurse." I joked with her.

She did a little curtsy, "Thank you." I laughed and she came over, hugged me, kissed my cheek and then left.

I waited a few minutes after she left to get up and hurry over to my gym bag. I hadn't had a moment alone to look at the letter from the Twilight League that I'd found during the third task/soccer game. I hurriedly pulled the envelope and headed back into bed to read it.

It was slightly crumpled, due to my hurry in retrieving it at the game. I pulled out a folded piece of parchment.

_Dear Bella,_

_Congratulations! You have successfully completed the third task, although we are presented with the suspicion that this was not particularly what you were expecting._

_Your journey thus far has been exciting, at least for us. We sincerely hope similar sentiments have found you as well. At this point, we pray that you are interested, still, in joining our organization, for what we stand and for the bond of comradery we share with you, and not merely for the connection to your family. Although, we want nothing if not your happiness, Bella, we wish you feel toward us the fondness we feel toward you. We consider you a great friend and we will not burden you with the necessity of membership in order to know all there is to your family's history here. If you do not wish to join at this point we will, of course, surrender unto you the information you desire without you needing any further steps._

_However, if you do want to continue (and we wish that you do) you now have three physical tools at your disposal. In three tasks you have found three items of equal importance to your final quest. When the time comes for that quest, you will be faced with a formidable choice of whether or not to trust us. In true friendship, trust is of great value. We consider you our friend, already a part of our unit, and have thus entrusted you with our greatest secret: our existence._

_The time will come when fear will strike your heart and you will wonder upon our judgment. Keep in mind, at such a time, the traits that we value; bravery and courage, among others. You have proven that you are daring and compassionate, wise and astute, but true bravery and strength of mind is something that you will soon come to need._

_You have the gear to help you on your way and also the necessary intelligence, both wit and clues together, but now you must ask yourself:_

_Have you the drive?_

_Ponder upon this, an answer as to whether or not you wish to continue will be requested from you at a further time._

_Take this warning with the intended caution: The road ahead will __NOT__ be easy._

_Sincerely,_

_Ťwilight Łeague_

_P.S- Confusion is very common at this stage, Bella, on so many subjects. We have included another clue to help clarify at least one of those mysteries._

I took a deep breath as I finished reading it. Wow. There was an air of intensity upon it. I knew the last warning was serious. It was something they really wanted me to think about before I continued. And they were right about something else: I was so confused! I thought I had to find a clock? And they said I had three items? I'm positive that I only have two. Did I miss the third? Should I go back to the field? It has to be there.

My fingers reached back into the envelope and discovered another piece of parchment, a much smaller one. Upon it was a little poem.

_Set you were at the day's dawn to find me_

_But I was not stumbled upon._

_Daring and wit; links of a chain that led you to me,_

_A symbolic two as one._

_-_

_When those in your position come to find me_

_I await them in disguise._

_You, my dear, have more of me_

_Than you realize._

_-_

_Beyond the Moon and the Sun, opposite that North Star_

_Push away the leaves set so beautifully where the levers are._

_-_

_Words of wisdom often come, these more fitting than you know:_

'_Seize the Day, Trusting Little in Tomorrow'._

_- _

I read the poem over again, trying to decipher their meaning. What on earth did they mean? Was this a clue for the next task? The dreaded last quest?

'_Seize the day …'_ The words meant nothing to me. These words were supposedly 'more fitting than I knew'. I read the poem over again.

And then it hit me.

I scrambled in my drawer, pulling out the compass. I read the engraving on the back:

_Carpe Diem, Quam Minimun Credula Postero_

The Latin words that I knew not the meaning of. Immediately, I pulled my laptop up off my bed side table and onto my lap. I opened the INTERNET browser and searched for a Latin to English translator. The minute I found one, I typed in the Latin words. And up came the translation: Seize the day, trusting little in tomorrow.

I felt a rush of excitement as I put together another puzzle piece. OK, so these are the words. So what, though? Where's the third item?

I read back over the poem: _Beyond the moon and the sun, opposite that North Star…_ It was obviously referring to the symbol on the front of the compass, the sun and crescent moon as one with a star in the center. _Opposite of the North Star_ … that referred to the back of the compass where the words were engraves. But what?

I thought back to the words of the last letter they'd given me: _Only those who know how to unlock it can find it_. Unlock what? … I already knew how to unlock the compass, you just push the front button and it opens. Oh man, this was killing me! I desperately scanned the letter for answers. The answer was in the letter somewhere, I just had to find it.

There were a few words that stuck out in my mind from their letters, both the one I'd just received and the previous one:

'…_for when readiness finds you, you will, in turn, find the answer ticking away, patiently awaiting your acknowledgment…'_

They kept insinuating in both letters that I already had the item with me: _'When those in your position come to find me I await them in disguise. You, my dear, have more of me Than you realize…'_

'_I await them in disguise_…' I looked back at the compass … could it be?

Oh my gosh!

I searched the back of the compass, the item I had studied endlessly before. Could it be that I had been missing something? But _how?!_ I looked back at the poem: '_Beyond the Moon and the Sun, opposite of that North Star, Push away the leaves set so beautifully where the levers are.'_

Where the levers are … was there a lever here somewhere? _'Push past the leaves'_ The small golden leaves in the center of the back of the compass around the engraved Latin letters … I pushed on them.

Nothing.

What?

'_Push past the leaves'_, not push _on_ the leaves. I held my breath as my thumb pushed the little gold design of the three leaves to the side…

I heard and felt a small _'click'_ and suddenly another lid popped open … and the face of a beautifully, ornate, ticking pocket watch stared back at me.

**--**

* * *

… **thoughts? …**

**Was it what you were expecting? Let me know what you think of the mission/discovery :)**


	47. Cooking with Flashcards

**I don't think I say this enough: I LOVE YOU GUYS! Thanks for all the amazing reviews and alerts! I'm absolutely shocked at how many of you enjoy this story so much to want to keep reading it :) Thanks so much!**

**Oh, the last portion of this chapter is rated M, just to warn you.**

* * *

It was so beautiful.

I ran my finger over the interior, glass covered face. The background was an elegant off-white color, very antique looking. There were Roman numerals marking each quarter, then tiny gold dots representing the other numbers. In the center there was the Twilight League symbol again, the sun and crescent moon into one with a star in the center. The hands were delicate and elegant, two gold lines with a tiny silver point marking the hour and minutes. The hand ticking around marking the seconds was the most a fine gold strand. The entire thing was beautiful.

I can't believe it was with me the entire time. The idea was funny, and now that I thought about it, how long had they been hinting towards that? Random bits of their last letter repeated in my head, pointing out the obvious clues: '_Are you ready to uncover your third piece of equipment? If you have even a flicker of doubt, then the answer is clearly 'No'.'_ I chuckled to myself. Of course, if I'd known it was here then I'd have no doubt whether or not I was ready, since I would have already discovered it.

I found myself wondering how long it took others to discover this part of the mystery. Had everyone figured it out at an earlier point in the process than I had? Had my grandmother? I hoped I wasn't the only one, that would be embarrassing.

I spent a long time analyzing the pocket watch/compass, opening it from both sides and looking at both parts with astonishment and marvel. The inside lid of the pocket watch side wasn't engraved with words like the compass part was, instead it had the signature '_Ť.Ł.'_ in a large, elegant script. Its amazing how something so small made me feel so big; made me feel like I was a part of something huge. I suppose at this point I was, or at least I was close, and I felt great about it.

Yesterday Carlisle had given me a glimpse into the personality of my grandmother and my mother when she was younger. They sounded exactly like I had always pictured them in my mind. Renee had always been carefree and was driven by the most minimal whims, I suppose that's what made her get married at such a young age. Although she'd always told me that I was the greatest treasure in her life, I knew that she regretted never attending college. But she had such high hopes for me, hopes that I would follow in her mother's footsteps. I could see why, Sabrina Hayden was turning out to be even more amazing than I had imagined her to be.

The Twilight League had given me an important choice to make; would I continue? They were offering me everything I'd ever wanted to know about her, all her secrets and adventures from when she was in this University. And I didn't have to take another step … I could save myself the dread of the inevitably frightful last task … the one they'd been warning me about since the beginning.

But I knew I did want to follow in Sabrina's footsteps; from everything I knew about her she was an admirable role model, someone worthy of looking up to … someone worth emulating. I didn't know if my similarity to her extended beyond that in the physical sense, but I wished it did. I want to be as brave, as loving and as full of life as she was.

And as open as she was to whatever and whoever life put in her way.

_I can do that too_, I thought. I had changed so much since I first arrived in this school. Where I was once guarded, I was now wide open, unafraid of getting close to those I considered friends. Where I was once fine in fading into the background, I know had a true sense of who I was and what I had to offer.

I _was_ a lot like my grandmother. And although learning more of her was reason enough to follow the path to the Twilight League, it was no longer the only motive. They could be my family now, too, and I wanted to officially be a part of them.

So when the League decided to ask for an answer to their question, I knew what the answer would be. It didn't matter of the dangers of the road ahead, the end result would be worth it.

--

* * *

**(?) POV**

It was time for another big meeting, we had many things to discuss. I quickly stepped out of the shower, towel dried my dark hair as best I could and went to my room to change into the black dress slacks and dove gray shirt I had laid out on my bed. As I put the outfit on I figured I could get away with not wearing a tie today, I hated eating dinner with a tie on, the feeling of it pushing against my throat as I ate was suffocating.

Once I was dressed, I went to my drawer, pulled out the silver ring and placed it on the index finger of my right hand. Returning to the bathroom, I ran a comb threw my hair and gelled it back, out of my face, and then I was ready to go.

Before heading up to the top floor, in the grand dining and meeting space set up for us I stopped by Melanie's apartment to pick her up. I'd barely knocked once on the door before she opened it, looking beautiful as she always did. She had on a simple black knee-length skirt and a coral colored silk top. Her black hair was up in a bun, out of her face.

"You're late," She joked. She grabbed a pen and notebook, before she closed the door behind her.

I smiled and pulled her in for a hug. "My apologies. But you look stunning, my dear."

She giggled, "OK, then you're forgiven." She held my hand as we made our way upstairs. When the elevator doors opened right into the room, most of the League members were already there, dressed in elegant cocktail wear, as was customary for all our meetings. Dressing in style was a tradition, and we held on tightly all our traditions.

We greeted everyone, as usual, getting lost in conversing and joking before we actually got down to business. Once everyone had arrived, it was time for dinner. As one of the leaders, it was my duty to call everyone to order. I held my champagne glass and tapped it lightly with a fork. "Friends, dinner awaits us." Everyone nodded and came over to the table. I didn't bother taking the seat at the head of the table, after all, leadership is determined by seniority, but it wasn't necessary to flaunt around. The people their places around this large table were all my equals, my comrades. I missed the round table we used to have, but a prank late last year had led to the poor thing being cut in half!

I held out a chair for Melanie beside me. Once she was seated I took my seat. I looked to Logan who was already holding up his champagne glass. The rest of us held up our glasses and waited for him to speak, "To this evening's proceedings. Cheers, everyone."

"Cheers" came the chorus from all my friends around me. After that we ate the meal before us; dishes upon dishes of catered food set out in a family-style way. Our meetings were completely private and we never let them be served, instead we ate as a family would, which was very fitting, in my opinion.

Usually we never got around to business while we were eating, talk would always segway into something else. However, this time we were able to successfully hammer out details to some of the matters at hand. There were a few future events that needed to be organized. By the time we got to desert, the talk had turned to our prospective new member.

"Do you think she'll reject the offer now that she knows she has access to anything she would ever want to know about her grandmother?" One of my friends asked.

Another member shook their head, "It doesn't seem that way, she seems genuinely happy about the missions."

"I have to give her props for that last mission," someone else said, "I can't believe she actually attended the game _and_ got it done. I think that's a first."

"Yea, when I saw she was at the game I thought she'd decided it wasn't worth it… until I saw her in the blonde wig." Everyone laughed at Logan's retelling of the events, "Jasper and I almost ran straight across the field thinking she was some nitwit from the other school about to discover our secret."

I remembered something, "Oh, speaking of secrets, she's onto me." My friends stared back at me with wide eyes, all of them suddenly silent, "Yes. She knows about me. I don't know if she's figured _everything_ out, but she knows I'm at least in the League. And Jasper, I think she might be on to you too. What else she's aware of is up in the air."

Jasper ran a hand through his hair, "I guess we'll all have to be more careful."

"Definitely," I responded. "And I think if she agrees to continue, we should give her the _other_ letter before we introduce the last quest. I picked it up the other day, its in my apartment ready for delivery."

Everyone got quiet.

"Do you think she'll pass?" There it was. The question on everyone's mind. "Do you think she'll _want_ to pass after that?" And there was the other question on everyone's mind.

Jasper loosened his tie as he spoke up, "All we can do now is equip her as best we can without making it too easy and hope for the best."

--

* * *

"Ouch! Edward I can't … reach the key," I said, standing in front of Jasper's apartment door with a ton of grocery bags and trying to get the key that was in my pocket.

Edward came up next to me, put down to other ton of grocery bags he was carrying and reached into my jean skirt pocket to get the key Jasper gave us early this morning. His fingers accidentally grazed the exposed bit of skin between my skirt and my button up blouse, making me tingle … and a little frustrated. Ever since I came back from the hospital, Edward has been making sure that I don't do anything strenuous. And he's taking the meaning a bit too far, I mean, he won't even … well, when I say nothing strenuous, I do mean _nothing_ strenuous. Which is completely unfair because he keeps 'accidentally' touching me in ways that immediately make me … _blush_? I think he's secretly enjoying what he's doing to me. And he _knows_ what he's doing. I mean, for goodness sakes, look at that smirk on his face right now. So unfair!

Thank goodness it was Friday. My 'resting time' was definitely over, actually it was over on Wednesday since Carlisle had told me three days but my friends went a little bit overboard. Anyway, I forced them to let me make dinner tonight, finally getting to do something active and Edward insisted on helping me. Jasper, Alice, Emmett and Rosalie had gone to a car show in a major city about an hour and away from here so they weren't going to be back until later. Anyhow, they promised to come back with a good movie and a full appetite, they'd be back around 7, I think. It was noon now so we had plenty of time to cook.

"I've got it," Edward said, taking the extracted key and opening the door. I waddled in, weighted down by the bags and flopping them down on the counter in the kitchen. "You know, if we had made two trips from the car like I'd suggested, your arms wouldn't be hurting right now." He pointed out, watching me rub my triceps.

"Yes but then we'd be on our way back downstairs right now." I said, not wanting to admit he might have been right.

He just chuckled, "Whatever you say, Bella. I won't point out that it took twice as long to get stuff here because of how heavy they were."

"Good."

Once again he laughed and began to pull stuff out of the bags, "We really didn't need this much stuff."

"Yes we do! I haven't cooked in a long time so I wanted to make a big meal. Besides, since you're taking care of the hardest part, I really don't have much to do."

"Are you crazy?" He said incredulously, "Look at all the stuff you're making! Mashed potatoes, salad, baked ziti, and you're baking bread for crying out loud!"

I smiled at him while helping pull out all our purchases, "It's _cheesy _mashed potatoes, and don't forget the cherry pie. Bread is so easy to do it practically doesn't count. Besides, you're making the roast which is the hardest part."

He shook his gorgeous head at me, "I love you but you're insane. You'd think we were cooking for a thousand."

I put my finger to my mouth in thought, "Well we'll just have to invite more people to pack it all away then."

Edward nodded, "Good deal." He began working on the roast right away. "Did you remember to bring your flash cards?"

I nodded, "Yep," I went to get them out of my purse. Since we both had to study for stuff we made flashcards so we can test ourselves on them while we made dinner. It was a perfect way to study.

"Mine are in my school bag over by the door, can you grab them?"

"Sure." After getting both sets, I went back over to the kitchen area, giving him mine and keeping his. Then I got an idea. "You know, how about we make this a little more interesting?"

His eyebrows shot up at my tone, but he kept a straight face, "How do you mean?"

"I mea …" I went over to lock the front door, "that no one will be here for a few hours. I say we play strip flashcards."

The smile was creeping back onto his face, "_Strip_ flashcards?"

"Yes."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Are you insane?"

"No." I laughed.

He considered it for a moment, his eyes taking in my outfit, my dark denim skirt and blue button up blouse. "You don't have that much on, you know."

I put my flats back on, (we usually took off our shoes the minute we entered Jasper's apartment), "OK then, shoes each count as individual items. Besides, I think I have more on than you." He was looking incredible in dark jeans and a black t-shirt.

"I'm wearing another shirt under this one, so I think we're about even, if we count my socks as one item since you aren't wearing any."

"OK, deal. So we each have seven items."

He laughed, "You do realize we're cooking right? This could get messy."

I grinned, "Are you scared?"

His eyes flashed in amusement, "Not a chance." He took a random flashcard from my pile. "Ladies first." I nodded, making my way to the sink to peel potatoes, "True or False, the man who became famous for painting in the pointillism style was called Manet."

I smiled, "False. It was Monet, not Manet. And no fair trying to trick me." I laughed as I continued to peel.

The game continued slowly, as we were busy cooking. He finished marinating the roast in no time though and began firing questions at me right and left after he stuck it in the crock pot. Then finally, he got me. "Name three of the pupils of Andrea del Verrocchio."

"Um … DaVinci, Botticelli" I _should_ know this, "… and Raphael?"

"Nope!" He said triumphantly. "Please remove one article of clothing."

I took off one of my shoes and waved it around in the air in the silliest way possible, making him laugh. "OK, fine, I'm missing a shoe. Big deal." I continued with my questions as he helped me cut up potatoes and put them in to boil. Finally, I got one that stumped him.

"Oh … um … damn! … Is it the optic nerve?" He asked.

"Ha! Nope!"

He groaned and took off a shoe. The game continued like that for a half an hour, each of us missing a few questions as we prepared food. Eventually we were each barefoot and I was down to my tank top and skirt. Edward had removed the black shirt and had on a white undershirt which clung to him beautifully, accentuating his pecs. My God, he's so hot!

"Your turn," I said, turning to a cupboard and reaching up to get a big bowl. But it was too high up.

Out of nowhere, Edward was right behind me, reaching up to get it for me. I couldn't help the sudden hot flashes as I felt his body pressed up against mine and I gasped. "Here you go," He whispered right in my ear, using one finger to sweep my hair away, revealing my neck where he placed a soft kiss. A tickling sensation vibrated down my spine. He was so close … "Breathe Bella," he reminded me, chuckling lightly, against me.

I spun around, our faces an inch apart. "Thanks for the bowl," I said in a soft voice. He nodded, leaning in and kissing my cheek before he went back to the other counter to start working on another dish. I shook my head to regain my composure, and began making the bread. As I was mixing flour, I asked him another question, "What are the three layers of the Meninges in the central nervous system?"

He thought for a moment, "Dura mater, arachnoid mater and … meninx fibrosa?"

I shook my head and smiled, "Very close, Edward, but the last one was pia mater. Please remove your other shirt."

He sighed, and I turned around to watch as he slowly lifted the white cotton shirt off of him and threw it onto a bar stool. Oh. My. God. Lord only knows how I ever became so lucky as to have Edward in my life. His perfectly toned upper body seemed to glow … his arms looked so strong, and his abs … oh man, how is it possible that he was mine? "Bella?"

I snapped out of my Edward-induced trance, "Huh?" I blushed immediately and he threw his head back and laughed at my reaction to him. He began asking me questions again as we both continued cooking. Then, once again, I got one wrong. Darn! He stopped what he was doing so that he could watch me take off my shirt. I turned to face him, grabbed the ends of my tank top and slowly lifted it over my head, teasing him a little. Thank _goodness_ Alice had convinced me to buy pretty underwear; my bra was made of pretty emerald green lace.

Edward let out a barely audible growl, his eyes smoldering.

I turned back around, took the stiff mixture out of the bowl and began kneading the dough on the counter. "Its your turn," I pointed out. I asked him another question, which he got correct. Darn it. We kept at the questions for a few minutes, but I was starting to get tired of kneading.

All of a sudden, Edward came up behind me once again, putting his arms around me, reaching forward to help me knead. His fingers intertwined in mine as he squeezed into the dough ... his breath was hot on the side of my face, his bare arms so warm against mine … A familiar tingly sensation coursed through my veins as his bare chest pushed up against my back, moving with me. We didn't talk, we just worked … pounding together into the dough, his head bent forward, breathing right into my neck. I wanted him to kiss me there again, but he didn't. He just ran the tip his nose over my jaw and behind my ear, back and forth as we worked together. It was torture. The sweetest kind of torture.

When we finally stopped, I turned around and he pressed his body on mine, "I believe…" His voice came out breathy and velvety, making me melt, "its your turn now." I couldn't respond, I just nodded. I wanted him to kiss me, but he didn't. Instead he moved his head down, trailing his pouty lower lip against my collar bone … back … and forth … my skin tingled … and back … and forth … Oh God. My hands were behind me, gripping the counter for support. I was just about to put them around his neck and kiss him when he pulled away, grinning.

I raised an eyebrow at him. He knew _exactly_ what he was doing to me. I swear, I'm just going to burst into flames any second now. But fine. _Two can play this game_, I thought.

He continued to chop vegetables, I went up next to him and reached across him to grab something, letting my arm graze his lower abs softly. He stiffened immediately and I smiled. Then I went back to my place, put the kneaded bread aside and covered it so it would rise.

I heard Edward take a few deep breaths, controlling himself, before continuing to ask me another question, which I got right and I immediately shot another one at him. Unfortunately he kept getting his questions right as we continued cooking. And we kept finding ways to touch each other throughout the questioning, of course. I would be chopping something and out of nowhere his fingers would be massaging the back of my neck, or he'd be doing something and I wouldn't be able to stop myself from coming up behind him and running my hands over his perfect back, starting at the top and letting them softly make their way down. But we'd both pull away before anything happened. And I certainly wasn't going to be the one to give in first.

No matter how hot I was at this point.

The true test of my self control came when he helped me mash the potatoes. With his arms wrapped around me, we were both holding onto the masher and working it into the pot … oh dear Lord … we were both getting sweaty … at one point I really thought I was going to faint, I mean he was so close and breathing heavily behind me, pushing his body into mine … and I made the mistake of letting my head fall back onto his shoulder which only made things worse because upon seeing my body arch that way and my chest stick out, he put a hand on my bare waist and ran his lips over my neck again, letting out a low moan … which completely drove me wild. I nearly jumped him right then. After that he actually stepped away and let me keep mashing them myself.

Finally almost everything was already in the oven or done except the salad. I chopped up vegetables as he continued to test me on the flashcards. At one point I lost track of things and almost cut my finger, getting the tip but, luckily, not breaking the skin. Edward rushed over to me and took my hand in his, analyzing the injury. "Does it hurt?" He asked, taking the finger and placing a soft kiss on it.

The second his lips touched my skin again I nearly swooned and had to hold on to the counter for support. Here we both are, him topless and me with only a bra and a skirt on and he was kissing my hand after having spent close to two hours teasing me … I don't know how much longer I can hold on. I just shook my head to let him know it didn't hurt.

His eyes burned into mine and he slowly put my finger into his mouth. My whole body nearly exploded at the small action. The way his mouth moved around my finger … and his _tongue_ … I couldn't take it anymore… I was seconds from losing it.

After a few pleasurable moments he stopped, took my finger out of his mouth, kissed it and then grinned at me, getting ready to ask me another question. I took a few really deep breaths, running my hands through my long hair and letting the straight locks fall forward over me, covering my chest a little. "Name this painting and its artist," He said, holding up the back of a flashcard with a miniature picture of a famous painting on it.

I looked at it … oh darn … I think I know this one … but I'm not sure, "Um … Madonna and Child … Leonardo DaVinci?"

He smiled at me and for a second I thought I had it. "No." His grin grew more pronounced. "You know what to do." He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest in satisfaction.

"Are you sure that wasn't right?" He nodded. "Damn." I sighed. Then slowly, I unbuttoned my skirt, taking my sweet time. I fingered each button before undoing it, letting the moment drag on. His eyes lingered on the teasing action of my hands. Finally I slid out of the skirt and let it fall to the floor.

His smile was gone, instead it was replaced by an intense look on his face … a hunger. His eyes ran over my body, taking in the green lace bra and its matching underwear. I heard the low growl again.

Then he slowly closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. I smiled mischievously. _He will crack WAY before I do._ I thought confidently as I put the chopped vegetables together in a large bowl and stuck it into the fridge. I turned to see Edward beginning to clean up. I walked over in his direction, pretending to check on the stuff in the oven and grazing my hands on his lower back. I stopped before I reached the oven and ran my lips over his back, as he had done to my neck before. No kiss … just a running a slow trail across his muscled back with my lips… over his shoulder blades … up his spine … I let my tongue slip out a tiny bit as I reached the back of his neck.

That set him off.

Suddenly he spun around and gripped my hips, taking my breath away in the rough intensity of the moment. His lips crashed onto mine hungrily, parting mine with his, letting his hands work magic on my body as my own hands roamed over him, his back, his sides, his hips, his abs … pulling him urgently closer to me. We were both on fire, in seconds he unclipped my bra and tossed it aside before picking me up by my hips. I immediately wrapped my legs around his waist as he hoisted me up, carrying me to the spare bedroom by my bottom, never breaking our kiss.

I knew he'd give in first.

--

* * *

A very amazing two hours later, we were still in bed after we'd gone back to the kitchen to take the stuff that needed to get out of the oven out, and then returning to the spare bedroom.

Edward was happily running a hand over my arm which was laying across him. "You know we should probably get up soon," I said to him.

He shook his head and pouted, pulling me closer to him, "Says who?"

He looked so adorable! I laughed, "Says the fact that they'll be home in about an hour and we have to clean up this bedroom… not to mention that our clothes are still thrown around the kitchen."

He grinned, "Yes, I suppose that _would_ be hard to explain."

I smiled, cuddling closer to him, if it was possible. "I love you." I whispered to him.

I felt him smile against the top of my head, "Bella, you have _no_ idea. I love you so much." He rubbed my bare back. We lay in blissful silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company. The sound of his heart beating was so soothing … I was so accustomed to the sound now, I didn't think I'd ever be able to live without it. I found myself I wouldn't.

I bit my lip. Its too soon to think about stuff like that… isn't it?

--

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it!**


	48. Reminiscing

**I sincerely apologize for the wait, so so sorry :)**

* * *

Eventually we got up, retrieved our clothes and cleaned up. He took the bedroom and I took the kitchen. He definitely had the harder job, as big a mess as we made in the kitchen, I have no clue how things in the bedroom got so messed up. It looked like a wild animal had been let loose in there. I don't even remember how … oh yea … Mmm …. Anyway that's not important now. 

When everything was back in place, He checked on the roast which was the only thing that wasn't ready. I would put the cherry pie in when we began dinner, so it would be warm for desert. Everything looked great and we were expecting the others back soon.

Edward pulled me into the living room and I sat on his lap as he turned the TV on. I snuggled into his chest and he would kiss me randomly, on the lips, on my cheek, on the tip of my nose. It was heaven.

Soon the door opened and in a very jubilant Emmett followed by the rest of our friends. "It smells amazing in here!"

"Hey guys! How was the car show?"

"Amazing—,"

"Boring—,"

Alice and Rosalie spoke at the same time. Edward and I laughed at them both. Rosalie ignored Alice and came in, her eyes lit up with excitement. "It was incredible; they had some Lamborghini concept cars there!"

Edward's eyebrows were raised, "Seriously?!"

Rose nodded and pulled out her camera, "Here, I took a ton of pictures." Edward took the camera and looked over the pictures as she explained each and everyone.

I let them look at cars and went over to the rest of the group who had huddled in the kitchen. "Emmett! You're supposed to wait for everyone!" I scolded.

Emmett put his hands up in the air and turned around a spoon hanging out of his mouth, an overly innocent expression on his face. "Sorry Bells," He mumbled as best he could with a mouthful of cheesy mashed potatoes.

Alice looked over everything, "Bella, I love the smell of baked bread! I'm starving, we haven't eaten since breakfast!"

"Good." I said, grabbing plates and stacking them on the counter. "Which reminds me, we have enough food here to feed the entire United States army, so do you guys mind if I invite Tanya?"

"Sure thing," Jasper said, helping me out by pulling out cups and utensils.

"Ask Logan to come along too." Alice said with a mischievous look in her eyes. Jasper shook his head at his tiny girlfriend and kissed the top if her head.

"Is there something going on there?" I asked.

"Not yet, but there will be." She responded as she pulled out her cell phone and began dialing.

An hour later we were all huddled in Jasper's living room, talking and eating since he didn't have a dining table, having used his dining room to house a pool table and a dart board. It was a really fun evening. Tanya and I told them about the crazier practices we'd had, including once when the assistant Coach came in with a toilet seat cover attached to his shorts and no one had the heart, or the guts, to tell him until Coach Graysly went up to him and asked him if he was saving that for later. The poor guy turned twenty different shades of red. We discussed the Captain choices for next year, Tanya was up for one of the captain positions and the decision would be announced at the annual sports banquet next weekend.

During the movie I snuggled into Edward's side. I looked up into his face, lovingly, and he kissed me, tangling his hands in my hair.

"Ugh, come on, I just ate. I don't want to watch my brother make out in front of me," Alice said with a grimace. Edward pulled away from me and sent a hand to ruffle her hair, which she dodged as she went to get the cherry pie out of the oven. "I can't believe you guys made all this."

"Yea dinner was amazing," Rosalie said as she got up from the couch and went to get out desert plates. "It must've taken you guys forever."

Edward and I avoided each other's eyes, "Not that long, no."

"Were you cooking the entire time we were gone?"

We shook our heads. "No." We said at the same time.

"What else did you guys do?"

"Study," We said in unison once more.

"Study?" Rosalie spotted the flashcards on the counter. "Oh that doesn't seem like too much fun. Tell you what, we'll clean up after dinner, you guys have done enough. You must be tired."

Edward and I glanced at each other, and quickly looked away. "Yea … thanks Rose."

--

* * *

"Yes!" I yelled happily. "Alice I'm _so_ glad you got this movie!" It was early on Saturday and the school's annual athletic banquet was tonight. It was a semi formal even where the school's athletes were celebrated and awards were given out. Also the new captains were announced for the major sports for the following year. There was a chance that Tanya would be one of the soccer captains next year so I was really excited for her; our team couldn't get a better captain in my opinion. Before the banquet, however, we girls decided to have a girly day; vegging out, doing facials, at home mani/pedis, watching girly movies and then later on we would take our time dressing up, picking out the perfect outfits for the party. 

Edward had slept in my room that night but I'd kissed him goodbye about two hours ago, about half an hour before Rosalie had arrived in our dorm with a few outfit choices for that night and some jewelry.

Alice had gotten _Center Stage_, one of my all-time favorite movies. She rushed over and popped it into the DVD player in our room before settling down on her bed and painting her toenails. Rosalie and I were sitting on my bed, me at the foot of the bed and her at the head with our legs extended to each other, painting each other's toenails at the same time.

"I wanted to be a ballet dancer after seeing this! I was totally in love with Charlie's character." Rose said as the movie began, "Bella, if you don't stop moving your foot I'm going to get purple nail polish all over your big toe."

"Sorry, Rose." I said, "OK, base coat done." I said, screwing the top back onto the little clear bottle and looked over to the many other little polish bottles collected on the bed side table, "What color do you want?"

"Hmm…" She put a finger to her mouth in concentration, "Go with that light pink. It'll match with anything I wear." I nodded and retrieved the light pink bottle.

"Oh, I love how they get together in this!" Alice laughed, alternating her attention between the movie and her feet, "He loves her, she's impressed by the guy with the big reputation, then she gets screwed over and he's there for her … aahh love."

Rosalie nodded, "That _is_ the best part of the movie. Actually, now that I think about it, that's usually the best part of every movie." I rolled my eyes at the both of them. "You know, it reminds me of how Emmett and I got together; jealousy played a big part."

"I don't think I've heard this story yet." I said to her, expectantly. "Tell me!"

Rose couldn't keep the grin off her face at the memory. She put down the nail polish and sighed, a wide smile lighting up her beautiful face, Alice stopped what she was doing and prepared to listen to her story. "Well, Emmett and I had known each other since we were little since our parents were close friends. Jasper and I didn't go to the same school as him, Edward and Alice since we didn't live in the same area but we were close enough to see each other pretty much every weekend. Anyway, around the age of fourteen, I realized how much I loved cars and I would spend a lot of my spare time tinkering around under the hood of our parent's old car, when one day, Emmett comes and joins me. I taught him the basics and from that point on whenever we hung out it was always in my parent's garage."

"Aww, you guys must've been so cute!" I put in.

Alice nodded, "They were, except for the grease stains the were constantly sporting afterwards or during dinner time on those days."

Rosalie took a pillow off my bed and threw it playfully at Alice, who squealed and dodge it. "So anyway," she continued, "Emmett and I saved our allowances for a while and ended up buying this car—"

"This disgusting old car," Alice interrupted.

"It wasn't disgusting! It was a perfect shell of a 1963 Studebaker! It's a classic!" Alice just looked at her like she was speaking gibberish. "Well, we were working on Shelly forever. Seriously, we would experiment with different things on her and save up money to buy parts and we'd take trips to junkyards to find certain things for her. She was our baby."

I snorted, "I'm sorry, _Shelly?_" I looked over at Alice who just laughed and shook her head at Rosalie.

"Yes, that was her name, and I can't remember a time when I'd had more fun. It was what I looked forward to all week: getting home on Friday and spending the entire weekend working on the car with Emmett. So, anyway, we spent _two years_ getting all the right pieces and putting her together, and one day, when we were sixteen, he calls and tells me that he's not going to be able to make it on Saturday because he has to meet with a girl from his class." She paused, trying not to smirk, "Now, looking back on it, I really had no reason to be angry, I mean, we weren't _together_ or anything, and we'd both gone out with other people before, but it was the first time he ever canceled on me for another girl. And I was livid! I didn't talk to him all week and when he came over the next weekend I told him I had a date. Donovan, the captain of the football team at our school, came over to pick me up and Emmett saw him. Donovan came over to give me a hug when Emmett snarled at him, 'Wait outside_, McNabb_' he told him right before he slammed the door in his face and we proceeded to get into an argument where I told him that who I went out with was none of his business. So he left, angrily, and I didn't see him again for a month." She looked away, "It was the worst month of my life."

"It wasn't any better for us either, Emmett was sulking around the house, he hardly ever came out of his room." Alice said.

"I couldn't bring myself to work on Shelly without him, which confused me because I didn't understand why I was having these feelings towards him. I mean, he was just Emmett, my hilarious, caring, sweet, totally cool best friend. Why had I reacted in that way? Why did I feel the immediate need to make him jealous? One night I was home alone, Jasper had gone over to the Cullen's place and both our parents were at some function, when I hear someone knock at my door. I open it and there is Emmett, looking nervous and angry. I, of course, wasn't going to apologize first because I was such an idiot." She rolled her eyes, "He just stood there, staring at me. Finally he said, 'I hated seeing that guy with you, Rose' and I told him that I hated the fact that he ditched me for another girl. As it turns out, he wasn't on a date with her, they were just working on a class project together. Then he asked me why I was mad about that and I couldn't answer him right away, I mean, I didn't really know why. And he just stood there … staring at me, waiting for my answer and he looked angry and sad and all I wanted to do was throw my arms around him but … I couldn't move. I could hardly _breathe_. I couldn't take my eyes away from his.

"Finally he rolls his eyes and turns around, heading back to his car, clearly about to leave angrily. As soon as he got to his car I snapped out of my trance, ran after him and told him to come in. He refused, so naturally, I sat on the hood of his car, refusing to move until he got out. He comes out of the car and slams the door. 'What?!' he screamed at me. I told him that I didn't want him to leave. I asked him why it was such a big deal that I went out with someone else and he got even angrier and screamed at me, 'Because I love you! Now get the hell off my car!'" Rosalie's smile was back instantly. "Needless to say I was frozen. _Again_. I couldn't move and he just stared at me. And then it finally clicked; I love him too! So I hopped off the car and hugged him. He was still angry so it took him a few seconds to finally put his arms around me. It felt so good to be so close to him, it felt _right_, you know? Like it was where I belonged. So I told him that I loved him too and he picked me up, placed me back on the hood of his car and we made out."

"Awwwww!" Alice and I said in unison. My heart was swelling after her story!

Rosalie was grinning from ear to ear, "Yep! And we've been dating ever since."

I clutched my hand to my heart, "Rosalie, that's so soap opera-ish of you both! And so sweet!"

Rosalie couldn't keep a grin off her face at the memory. "Yes it was perfect. And I've never been happier." She was blushing a bright red, "OK, now its Alice's turn!" She said hastily, taking the attention off herself.

We turned to face Alice who laughed, "Fine, but my story is not nearly as dramatic and interesting as Rose's."

Rosalie nodded, "Yes but you and Jasper have been together forever, so it's just as romantic."

Alice was quiet for a few seconds, as though deciding how best to start. "Well, I suppose it really started when we were seven."

I coughed, "Excuse me, _seven?!_"

"Well, _he_ was seven, I was five."

"FIVE?!"

"Yes."

Rosalie cut in, "See I told you they've been together forever."

Alice giggled, "Like Rosalie said, our parents were close friends so we'd see each other really often. Jasper and I were always really close, I can't really explain it, but it's like we were always … I don't know … very _aware_ of one another." Her smile grew more pronounced as she thought back to those times, "He was best friends with Emmett and Edward, of course, and I always hung out with Rosalie and followed her around, but me and him got along just as well."

"Yea," Rose turned to me with a huge grin, "Alice was the _tiniest_ little kid you've ever seen, and she always followed me around but she was so cute, she was like my own little baby doll!" I laughed.

"Well, you were the closest thing I had to a big sister, I looked up to you!" Alice said simply.

Rosalie grinned happily, "And now?"

"I grew out of it."

I laughed as Rosalie glared at Alice, mockingly.

"Anyway," Alice smiled, continuing with her story, "It was during the summer and it was Rosalie and Jasper's joint birthday party. There were so many other kids around and they were playing cops and robbers when this one little boy pushed me aside and said I had cooties. I fell and started to cry. Emmett and Edward were on the other side of the playground but they saw and were running over to me, ready to beat up the little kid, but Jasper got there first, roughly pushing past that kid and kneeling beside me on the grass, making sure I was OK. He gave me a lollipop to make me stop crying, helped me up and held my hand."

"Awww!" I said, unable to control my girliness.

Rosalie laughed, "They were so cute! She was in this little yellow dress and once she'd wiped the dirt off, he led her over to the swing set and pushed her gently. She would giggle happily when she got to go really high and every time he heard her he'd get the biggest smile on his face."

"Oh my gosh!" I said, imagining little seven-year-old Jasper pushing five-year-old Alice on the swing set. "That's adorable!! What happened to the other little kid?" I asked.

Alice laughed, "My brothers took care of him. I don't really know what they said to him but I do remember him running back to his mom crying and with wet pants."

"That is the cutest thing!" I said, "So when did you guys actually get together officially?"

Alice shrugged, "To be honest, I think we were always together officially. We never dated other people, it's like we both knew that we were it in and of ourselves. We just … I don't know … we fit together." She described as best she could, her face reddening slightly, "He was a part of me since before I can remember. We are soul mates; we were in love from the first time we met. But it wasn't until we were both in middle school that we had our first kiss. He was in eighth grade and I had just skipped a grade so I was in seventh with Edward. Anyway, he and my brothers were going out to ride their bikes somewhere with some other kids and I was staying in doing homework. After a while, he comes to the den where I was hanging out by myself and we sat around watching TV and hanging out like we did on occasion, it was no big deal. Then, when it was time for him to go home, I jumped up on the sofa to hug him goodbye, since he was so tall, and he laughed. He hugged me tightly, tighter than he ever had before and I really didn't want to pull away." She blushed, "In that moment my senses went into overdrive— I could just _feel_ this energy between us … you know what I mean? He was so close! So, I mustered up some courage, put my hands on either side of his face and I kissed him right on the lips." Alice got a very dreamy look in her eyes; a tender smile lingered on her lips. "And he kissed me back … he didn't even hesitate. I remember thinking how good it felt to hand his hands running through my hair …"

Rosalie and I were silent as she reminisced. She looked so elated.

"Anyway," Alice said, breaking out of her trance, her pixie face was a very vibrant red color. "Afterward we broke apart, finally, he said 'Thank you, ma'am.'" She giggled and we all laughed, "And I was confused about that so I asked him what for. And he said he'd wanted to do that since he was six!"

"AWW!"

"I know! I didn't believe him and he said it was true, that I was the only cootie-less girl he'd ever met!" We all giggled. "And afterwards, he picked me up, carried me up to my room, tucked me into bed and kissed me again before he left. And we've been together ever since!" Rose and I were quiet again, watching her blush furiously, "Bella, your turn!" She said hastily.

I shook my head, "You guys already know my story; you were both there for pretty much everything."

"True, we do know all the cutest details, but what's been going on so far? Come on, Bella, give us some juicy tidbits." Alice whined.

I sighed and thought for a moment. "Nothing juicy," I said blushing, thinking back to yesterday in Jasper's kitchen.

"Uh huh, there's the blush!" Rosalie exclaimed excitedly, "Spill it, Swan."

I laughed, "Really, nothing new. Just some … really hot moments. No need for the gory details." I was quiet for a second, "But I guess there is something … I'm just …"

"Yes…?" Rose and Alice said in unison with eager grins on their faces.

I sighed, "I'm probably just being stupid … but … well, I feel like it's all too good to be true. You know? Like I haven't done anything to deserve Edward… and … I can't help but think that one day he's going to figure that out … and when he does … when this ends … I don't know … I don't think I'll deal too well with that. I mean, things are so great, _so_ great, I'm just not used to things being this great."

I looked up to see them both staring at me with the strangest expression. "Bella," Alice spoke softly, her tone sympathetic, "Believe me, you're not the lucky one here, Edward is. You're awesome! And take it from someone who has known him his entire life, he feels the same way about you. I've never seen him so happy."

"Yea, Bells, you can't worry yourself with these crazy thoughts. Live in the _now_." Rosalie said.

I half smiled comforted a bit by their words. "I love him _so_ much. I'm just so used to being … I don't know, _lifeless_ inside and now I'm … _alive!_ Since I've started school everything's changed … and it's not even just Edward. My life has taken such a drastic change. And don't get me wrong, I've loved every minute of it. _So much_." I continued rambling, more to myself than anyone else, suddenly forgetting that there were two other people in the room. "Seriously, I've been deliriously happy this entire time and I've never been like this before, not since … well, since my mom … I've always just gotten by, no emotions at all, no excitement, just going through the motions, you know? Trying to live out the life she wanted for me, never really thinking about what _I_ wanted out of life. But now, everything is different. I'm _happy! _Somewhere along the way, things stopped being about her and started becoming about me." I stopped my rapid diatribe briefly for a breath and then continued, "But I wonder if I'm on some kind of timer, like maybe all this good stuff is going to come to an end." Somewhere I knew that I should stop myself, but it just came pouring out, "I mean, I'm getting everything I never knew I always wanted, like some kind of fairy tale … and I'm close, _so close_, to getting something great …" I paused, "at least I think it's great … I _hope_ its great … it sounds great; it _feels_ great … but what if I don't pass?" I thought I saw Alice and Rose exchange glances, "What if I can't cut it? Because, let me tell you, I'm really not that special" I gave a humorless laugh, "Not by a long shot … and what would make anyone think otherwise is beyond me," I stopped to take another breath, "So, maybe I am a little freaked out that in the end people are just going be like '_What were we thinking?'_ and after my inevitable failure I'll just go back to being what I always was; no one. And losing him on top of it all …" I shook my head, "It would be unbearable … It would've been fine before, when I didn't realize what I was missing out on, but now? Have you ever read _Flowers for Algernon?_ Because that's what it'll be like for me." My rant finally ended, and after a few deep breaths, I looked up to see both Rosalie and Alice staring at me with their mouths wide open.

And I realized what I'd just done "… I'm … sorry … I don't know where that all came from …"

"Bella," Alice said softly.

Rosalie scrambled over from her seat at the head of my bed and pulled me into a really big hug. "Bells …"

_Oh crap._ I thought to myself, _What did I just do?_ I didn't even realize I was worrying so much about the League stuff … I guess it was all in the back of my mind, but I've always been good at hiding my emotions. I've changed so much. My walls broke down and somewhere along the way I lost my ability to hide, like I'd done my entire life. And what's worse is I did it in front of one person I was sure was in the League. _That's it. I've done it now, I'm so out._

"You guys … I'm sorry … can we just forget I said all that?" I looked at Alice.

She just stared back at me. I closed my eyes, mentally kicking myself. "Bella …" She paused, "Edward loves you. And … everything else, it will … fall into place. Trust me." She smiled at me.

Rosalie still had her arms around me, "I don't know how you survived it all, and everything you've gone through … you've done as well as anyone could've after what happened. It just proves how strong you are." I let myself lean my head on hers as she spoke. "And … I don't know … It seems like … whatever you're going through, it's good. So you're clearly on the right path … just remember its all about the _journey_, not the destination." Those words sounded so familiar. "Stop worrying. You deserve the best. So you better start believing that right now." She commanded.

I nodded.

"No, don't just nod. I want you to say it. Right now." She got up and put her hands on her hips.

Alice jumped out of her bed and stood next to Rose. "Say it, Bella." Her lips twitched as she tried to hold back a smile and look serious.

I smiled and looked at them like they were crazy. "Say what? You two are insane."

They both looked at each other, exchanging mischievous grins, then turned around, grabbed pillows off of Alice's bed and turned back to me. "Say it." Alice demanded. "Say, 'I deserve the best'"

"And then say, 'I'm capable of the best.'" Rosalie added.

"What is this? An after-school special?" I asked with a laugh. "Ow!" I whined as a pillow hit me on the head.

"Say it," Rosalie was clearly holding back a laugh. "Right now." Then she and Alice attacked.

"Ow!" I said again. I tried unsuccessfully to grab a pillow of my bed but I was being pummeled by both of them, "You guys!" I couldn't help but laugh. "OK, OK, I deserve the best! … Ow! I said it already!"

"Say the other part," Alice demanded in between giggles, "Right now!"

"Ouch! ... OK … and I'm capable of the best! Are you happy now?! OW!"

"Sorry, had to get one more in there for good measure." Rosalie said as they both retreated. "Now I want you to remember that. Always. You're not that other girl anymore, and you better not forget it because Alice and I will always be there to beat it back into you. Got it, Swan?"

I rolled my eyes, "Sure, sure." Another pillow hit my head. "Ouch! OK, yes, I will remember," I laughed.

"Good." Alice put her pillow down and wandered over to the mini fridge. "Anyone up for screwdrivers?" She asked.

"Me!" I said immediately, after having cheered up a lot. I had come a long way so far this year; I made a complete turn around from the way I used to be … I suppose its only natural that I'd still have to pinch myself sometimes.

_My only worry now was that I'd let too much slip_.

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**Hey, everyone, so so sorry for the wait! I had a major case of writer's block. A very big thanks to the one who helped be break down the barrier! Another chapter will be up shortly, give me about an hour, I might be done fine tuning it.**

**And also, theres a picture of the car Emmett and Rosalie worked on during their teens in my profile. Its the one from Rosalie's story. **


	49. At the Banquet

A few hours later we were walking into the banquet, which was being held in the vast, elegant hall in the main building. There were large round tables set up all throughout the hall, a large platform in the front of the room with a podium and an empty are right in front of it which I'm assuming will be used as a dance floor later on tonight.

Alice had seen to it that we all looked stunning. She had on a short, shimmery green dress which brought out her eyes; Rosalie was looking amazing in a red knee length dress that hugged her so tight it left nothing to the imagination. How does she breathe in something that tight? I was in a deep purple strapless number that stopped right above the knee. We were each linking arms with our dressed up boyfriends who were leading us to a table where Tanya and Logan were already seated with their dates.

"Hey!" They both said as we all sat down, Edward holding out my chair for me; Emmett and Jasper did the same for Alice and Rosalie.

I smiled back, "Hey!"

Logan introduced the pointy faced, red haired girl next to him as Victoria and we each shook her hand. I couldn't help but notice a doleful look on Tanya's face at his introduction. I knew her date as one of the soccer player's on the hockey team.

Edward put his arm around me, "Did I tell you how gorgeous you look tonight?" He whispered in my ear.

I chuckled, his breath was tickling me, "About five times already, but you could go for an even six."

He smiled at me and looked me right in the eye, "You look stunning."

"Thank you." I looked up at Tanya, who was looking uncomfortable. "Hey, are you nervous?" Tanya was up for one of the captain spots on our team, the decision would be announced tonight by the coach.

She smiled at me, but it didn't reach her eyes, "I guess." She said quietly. Her date put his arm around her, but that didn't seem to ease her distress.

Logan grinned at her and playfully pinched her side, "No need to be nervous, Denali, you're golden! They'd be crazy not to pick you."

I nodded and was about to say something, when Logan's date, Victoria, rolled her eyes. "My goodness, when is this thing going to start, already?" She said with a sigh. Tanya's nostrils flared a bit but she stayed quiet. I saw Alice and Rosalie exchange looks.

Emmett, with on of his arms around Rosalie, pulled a watch out of the pocket of his black slacks. He kept it hidden, discreetly at his side. But I'd caught a glimpse of what came out of his pocket.

A round pocket watch attached to a chain.

I went rigid. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as he flicked open what looked like a familiar lid, (silver with gold designs on it) and checked it swiftly, then turned back to us, stuffing it back into his pocket. "It should start soon." He said as Logan put his hand on Victoria's.

My heart thudded loudly and my hands got hot … _Oh my God, Emmett! _I thought to myself, excitedly. _I've so got you, Em!_ I forced myself not to grin.

"Bella," Edward said, shaking me lightly, his face was curious. "Are you OK?"

I snapped my mind back into the present moment. "Oh yea," I smiled at him, "I'm great." I kissed his cheek. _I'm so great._

And soon it did begin. Waiters began to bring out plates of salad to each table and the conversations continued. Emmett was up for one of the captain spots on the football team as well, it turns out. He wasn't nervous at all, in fact he was really happy and animated, saying that it didn't matter who the coaches picked, it was their decision and whatever it was would be for the benefit of the team. The guys went over some of the more difficult games of the year while we ate. I couldn't help noticing how glum Tanya looked. Finally, after watching Victoria lean into Logan's chest and run her fingers through his brown hair, she got up and excused herself. Alice, Rosalie and I followed shortly afterwards.

"More taking-over-the-world bathroom planning, I assume?" Edward whispered to me with a grin as I got up.

I remembered our conversation at the beginning of the year and laughed. "Yep, tonight we're deciding what to do with our slaves once the take over begins. Don't worry, I'll make sure you're treated nicely." I kissed his cheek once more before I left.

We met Tanya in the bathroom, she was leaning against the counter with her head bowed, looking sad. "So do you want to tell us what is going on now?" Rosalie asked with her hands on her hips as I went over and put my arm around her.

"It's nothing," she said with a sigh. Was it me or did her voice sound a bit thick?

Alice spoke up in a small voice, "Is it Logan?" Tanya's eyes closed and she didn't answer. "Is something going on with you guys?"

She just laughed humorlessly, "No. There's _definitely_ nothing going on there. Sorry to disappoint you." She looked away, "He doesn't … see me that way."

"Why?!" I asked her, "Have you talked to him about it?"

"You're a lot better than that Victoria cow he's with." Rosalie pointed out.

She looked down at the floor, "He's not into me. I'm _'such a good friend'_. Those are his words not mine. He's my best friend in the world and I don't want to ruin that but it's just … oh, I don't know."

Alice put her hands on her hips, "Well we're just going to have to change the way he sees you."

Tanya shook her head, "He thinks of me as more of a sister than a girlfriend. Ugh, and the worst thing is that he started going out with that ex-girlfriend of his again. She's the one who left him for another guy before. You remember last year, right Rose?"

Rose nodded, "Man, he was a mess then!"

"I know!" Tanya continued, "He says it's OK because he's just having fun but seeing her makes me want to rip her stupid red hair out."

Rosalie and I were just shaking our heads. "I'm so sorry Tanya. You're so much better than her, she's such a snob! How long has this been going on?"

"What, my crush on him? Or his little escapade with the evil ex?"

"Your crush on him." I answered.

"Well…" Tanya said slowly, her face blushing a bit.

"That blush tells me there's something you're not saying ..." Alice told her, her eyes dancing. "I have a lot of experience reading blushing signs, I live with Bella, you know." I rolled my eyes at her, trying to look annoyed. She stuck her tongue out at me and I held back a giggle.

Tanya sighed, "OK, but you _can't_ say anything about this to anyone, OK?" We nodded, eagerly awaiting more gossip. "Well, we were at a party last year and we got kind of drunk… well, _he_ got drunk, I was just a little tipsy. Anyway, we kissed. But he doesn't remember it so it doesn't matter. Except that I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since then."

Rosalie gasped excitedly, "Did you ever talk to him about it?"

"I tried once but then I realized he didn't remember. Whatever, I'm just being an idiot. Listen, can we just go back out there and pretend nothing is happening?"

Alice squealed, completely ignoring Tanya's last remark. "I know exactly what we're going to do!" Alice said, suddenly.

Tanya looked apprehensive, "Do I want to know?"

She just nodded, "We're going to make him absolutely green with envy!"

"How?" Tanya asked.

"Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but you have a really hot jock as your date tonight." Rosalie stated as though it were obvious.

Tanya nodded and smiled, "Yea, Robert, he's on the hockey team … and his arms … oh _man…_" she got a dreamy look in her eye, "Well, yes," she said hastily, "he's cute, _really_ cute, but he's just a friend."

"So? You are looking fabulous tonight," Rose pointed out, forcing Tanya to twirl around for us, which caused her to laugh, "And you're going to flirt with him … right in front of Logan!"

"Rosalie, I'm not_ you._" Tanya said but she was clearly thinking about it. "I couldn't … I mean, I _could,_ but I wouldn't." She said with a little laugh, "That would be wrong, I don't like him that way… And Logan's with Victoria tonight, he won't even notice."

"Of course he will!" Alice said, reaching into her purse and pulling out some makeup, "Especially after we're done with you."

Tanya's eyes widened in fear, "No way, Cullen. Put down the mascara!"

Alice stamped her strappy-sandaled foot, "Honestly! What is it with you soccer players and your lack of respect towards fashion? I'm helping you out here! It's not going to _hurt._"

"I don't know …"

I rolled my eyes, "Tanya, trust me, its best just to go with it. It'll be less painful, I promise."

"See, Bella's learned to love it." Alice argued.

"I wouldn't go that far, Alice."

Tanya finally caved,"Well … I guess it would be kind of fun…." She already looked great in a skin tight burgundy dress with spaghetti straps, but she'd obviously just thrown it on. Rosalie immediately let down Tanya's bun and went to work on her hair while Alice applied mascara, eye shadow and eye liner, making her hazel eyes pop out. I just stood back and let the experts do their thing. "Although, he's seen me in dress up clothes a dozen times, at least once a month, so it's not like this is really going to make a difference."

"Trust me," Rosalie said, "He's never seen you looking great _and_ flirting with a hot guy. I have a distinct feeling it will make a great deal of difference."

Five minutes later Alice, Rosalie and I hurried back to our table and sat down. "Where's Tanya?" Robert, her date, asked.

Rosalie successfully kept the smirk off her face as she answered. "She's coming."

Edward leaned into me, "Why are you smiling like that?" He asked with his crooked grin.

I smiled innocently, "Like what?"

"Like you're a cat with a mouse trapped in your paws."

I laughed. In the back of my mind I was worried about one big thing, but tonight had brought forth quite a little surprise. And on top of it, I'm helping a close friend torture and trap her man. God, sometimes being a girl was so much fun! "I'm not smiling in any particular way. I'm just extremely happy to be here with the man of my dreams."

He grinned happily. "Yea?"

"Yep. Just look at him," I said, pointing across the room at Mr. Banner, the head of the athletic department at our school. He had the look of what was once a very built football player, but the years had seen to it that his muscles, as well as his hair, began to fade away. "I love a mature man."

Edward rolled his eyes, "You get sillier with each passing day, do you know that?"

I nodded seriously, "Don't blame me, I live with your sister. Blame her."

Edward chuckled and turned to Alice with mock bitterness, "Thanks a lot, Alice." He said to her.

Alice dropped a carrot from her mouth and stared at him with her head tilted to the side in confusion. "What?"

I couldn't hold back a laugh. Soon Edward joined in and the rest of the table stared at us, some shaking their heads and some clearly questioning our sanity. Alice just smirked as she looked from me to Edward, then shook her head and turned back to Jasper.

A moment later I saw Robert and Logan's jaws both drop as they ogled something behind me and I grinned, already knowing what it was. I waited patiently as Tanya walked around to her seat, her hips swaying seductively, her strawberry blond hair down, wavy and perfectly framing her face. Robert stood up and held her seat out for her. She looked up at him and smiled at him, making him go speechless with one look. "Thanks." She said in a breathy voice.

Logan couldn't stop staring at her.

I turned my laugh into a cough when I saw the shocked expression on his face. Poor Logan. He's in for a long night.

An hour later, the entrée plates were cleared and one of the coaches of the football team got up and made a speech. He congratulated the team on a spectacular season and finally got to the part we were all waiting for. "And we have one slot open for Captain for next year. I am honored to announce that the spot is being filled by no other than Emmett Cullen!"

The hall erupted in applause and cheers, the loudest belonging to the rest of the football team and those at our table. Emmett got up and Rosalie hugged him. We all clapped loudly and congratulated him before he went up to the podium and joined the coach and the other captains who all shook his hand. "Thank you!" He said into the microphone, "It's truly an honor to be able to lead such an amazing team! We have the most incredible coaches, hardworking and dedicated players and the greatest support system I've ever seen. I know next season will be a blast! Thanks!" We all stood and clapped loudly for him as they all went back to their seats. We all hugged Emmett before sitting down and listening to coaches from other sports teams talking.

Finally Coach Graysly got up. I listened closely as she congratulated the team for a great season. "I'd like to take a second to commend one of our new players this year for incredible heart, dedication and hard work. She's incredibly talented and I've never seen anyone volunteer to play with a concussion! So please join me in thanking Bella Swan for her astounding perseverance and devotion to the team." My eyes were wide with shock as the applause and cheers began. I heard random team members shouting my name gleefully. Edward clapped the loudest, beaming at me with his famous smile and taking my breath away. Alice pulled me out of the daze by hugging me and Tanya cheered loudly along with the rest of my friends. By the time the applause died down my face was a bright red.

Coach smiled at me, I'd never seen her really smile before, and it was kind of eerie. Soon she continued. "And we have a new Captain for our team also this year. I'm proud to announce that this girl is fierce, hard working, always looking out for her team, takes the time to help out her teammates whenever she can, she's another extremely talented player and a true asset to our team. Get up here, Captain Denali!"

Tanya shrieked happily and jumped up. Robert scooped her into a huge hug before Logan had the chance to. I cheered happily for her and clapped so loudly my hands ended up hurting. She made her way up to the podium and hugged the coach. She thanked everyone, her team and her friends for being an amazingly supportive before hugging the coach one more time and returning to her seat.

Shortly after the speeches ended, the deserts came out and music started to play. Edward pulled me up and forced me to dance with him, promising not to let me make a fool out of myself. I noticed Tanya and Robert dancing a few feet away from us, very closely and with Tanya purring in his ear. She caught my eye and I grinned at her. She grinned back and winked at me, nodding over toward Logan. I turned and saw Logan staring angrily towards them, an angry Victoria desperately demanding his attention.

I was laughing into Edward's shoulder. "Should I ask what's going on?"

"It's a girl thing." I said, happily.

He just shook his head and chuckled. The music got a little slower and we danced close for a while. I was perfectly content just staring into his eyes. After a couple of songs, we all switched partners, Edward with Alice, Jasper with Rose and I ended up dancing with Emmett, who tried to spin me around and I tripped. He caught me easily, laughing the entire time. "Bella, seriously, you should look into staying still. For you, dancing is an extreme sport."

I laughed along with him, "What am I supposed to do? Just shy away from the fun stuff just because I have two left feet?" Then I decided to have a little fun and looked him right in the eye, "'_Seize the Day, trusting little in tomorrow'_ isn't that what people say these days?" I said innocently.

Emmett turned pink. "Um … yea, I think I might have … uh … heard that somewhere." He looked away.

I held back a grin. _I have SO caught you, Emmett Cullen._ I thought to myself.

Another member of the League to add to my growing list.

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**OK, I'm so thrilled! 3000 reviews! I'm so stoked!! Thank you so much, you guys rock!**

**One more chapter tonight, I think :) **


	50. Worries and Ifs

A couple hours later, we were at an after party at someone's house. The night had been so much fun, I didn't bother Emmett anymore that night, and he didn't seem to realize that he'd been busted. Which was good … it meant I could have more fun with him later. Him and Alice and Jasper … oh how I would enjoy toying with them.

But then I stopped, my smile fading away.

I remembered my earlier conversation with Alice and Rosalie. There was one thing still worrying me. _Had I let too much slip?_ The Twilight League took their secrecy very seriously. Alice would probably have no choice but to let them know about what I'd done. Besides, after my freak-out, she probably thought I couldn't handle the pressure of being in it. League members were supposed to be courageous and adventurous, not scared and uptight.

I thought about that throughout the night, but hid my worries around my friends, dancing along with them. _No need to ruin their good time with my problems_.

Alice and Emmett did their famous John Travolta dance moves later on that night after a few drinks. Edward too, joined in, after being forced to by Alice. Rosalie and Jasper and I sat back, watching our three Cullens acting crazy and laughing. Finally Edward stepped away and pulled me into him. "I bet you didn't know I could move like that."

I laughed, "I must say, I'm terribly impressed."

He chuckled, "It's hot in here." He said, pulling my hand, "Would you like to go outside?"

I nodded. "Actually, I'm getting tired."

"Me too!" Alice piped in, suddenly right beside us. "Let me get the others."

Soon we were all walking out, congratulating Emmett on being captain yet again. He merrily joked about the hell he was going to make Edward go through next year just for the fun of it. Edward just rolled his eyes at his brother. But as we were walking out of the house, we heard two people arguing. Two very familiar voices behind the house. Everyone looked around curiously.

"We _should_ mind our own business," I pointed out, looking at them. But we all exchanged the same excited glances and tip-toed towards the sounds of the voices. We hid behind the wall, in the shadows and watched Tanya and Logan go at it.

"… and just _what_ are you so mad about? I was just dancing!" She was saying defensively.

I heard Logan snort humorlessly, "Please! That wasn't a dance, it was a mating ritual!"

I peeked around and saw Tanya standing with her arms crossed across her chest. "Don't exaggerate."

"Who's exaggerating? I was just being a good friend by pulling you out of there! You've had a few drinks and he had his hands…"

"Why are you paying so much attention, anyway?" Tanya demanded. "You know, Victoria is probably still in there looking for you."

Logan looked utterly uncomfortable.

I didn't want to look anymore. This was a private for them, it wasn't right to snoop like this.

Besides, I was sure Tanya would fill me in on the details tomorrow.

"Come on," I whispered, "Let's leave them alone."

Alice and Rose nodded and we all filed out from our hiding spot and walked back to the dorms. I looked over at Alice who smiled back triumphantly. "You see how helpful a little make up can be?" she whispered.

I threw my head back and laughed.

--

* * *

That night I had trouble getting to sleep, still worrying about whether I was out or not. I thought about just asking Alice outright, but that was probably a bad idea, just blurting it out. Then they'd _know_ I couldn't keep a secret. I mean, joking and hinting around with them was one thing. But … I just don't know. I prayed that I wasn't out.

And of course, the next morning I looked terrible, like I hadn't slept at all. Edward had been zonked out completely, so I'd snuggled into him all night, trying not to wake him, but he'd noticed and the first thing he did this morning was question me. "What's the matter?" He whispered into my neck the minute he was awake. I shook my head but he wasn't buying it. "You tossed and turned all night. Please tell me?" He kissed my collar bone, sweetly.

Man, he knows exactly what to do to get me to surrender to anything he wants. I swear, I'm lucky he's not a cult leader, or else I'd be the first to die my hair, change my name to Wind or something and follow him blindly. "I'm just worried about … finals." I felt bad about lying, but I couldn't really tell him the truth. Then I was sure to be out.

"Finals are weeks away."

"I know, but it's a lot of pressure. I'm just worried about passing."

He was quiet. "I see." He hesitated again, "I'm sure you'll do fine. And I'll help you study some more if you want…" He said seductively … "We could always play another game of flashcards…"

I laughed quietly, Alice was in the next bed and I didn't want to wake her. "Sshh! You'll wake Alice."

Then a high voice called from across the room. "I'm already awake. And I have a feeling I don't want to know why you said _flashcards_ that way Edward, so please stop talking." I laughed.

Edward groaned and got up. "I guess I'll go take a shower. See you later, Bella." He kissed my cheek and left.

I sat up in bed, instantly missing him. Now I had nothing to do but sit here and worry.

Alice chose that moment to sit up in her own bed. She yawned loudly and stretched out, rubbing her eyes before turning to look at me strangely. I just stared back at her. "So you're worried about finals, huh?" she said finally.

I nodded.

"_Finals?_" She repeated, skeptically.

"Something like that," I said, looking away.

She nodded, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but…" She sighed, and bit her lip. It was as though she was afraid of letting something slip.

At that point, I figured we both knew what I was really worried about.

I put myself in her shoes, though. She didn't know that I knew she was in the League. She knew that I was worried about it but couldn't give anything away. Not that she would if she did know, but she was obviously holding back for that reason. "Alice," I closed my eyes and sighed. I decided it was best to just get it out in the open. I was already in trouble, what was a little more? "How did that project turn out?"

She looked at me curiously. "What project?"

"The one you were working on in the beginning of the year. Remember the sequined mask you had? You said it was inspiration for a project." Alice did a little jump and turned a bright red. "Did the project turn out alright?"

I watched her carefully. Her eyes were wide. She gulped loudly, "Yea … it turned out … fine."

I nodded. "Good." I didn't smile. I don't know what I'd just done, but at least now we were both aware of what I knew. I guess I needed someone to know, and it was good to get it out. But it didn't ease my distress and though I wanted to, I couldn't ask her questions.

You don't ask questions unless expressly told by someone that it was OK to do so. That much was clear.

I groaned loudly and got off my bed, grabbing a towel and heading towards the bathroom.

"Bella?" I heard Alice say before I reached the bathroom door.

I paused and turned around, not looking at her in the eye. Maybe she would just put me out of my misery now. Maybe she'd just tell me the truth, that I was out already. She could tell me right now and get it over with. She was my friend, she wouldn't want to drag it out for me. "Yes?" I said finally, finding my voice. There was a lump in the back of my throat.

"What you're worried about …" She hesitated, "is not … passing … your finals?"

I didn't look at her, my heart sinking rapidly, "To be honest … I don't think I have to worry about that…"

Her gaze was curious again. "Why?" She seemed confused.

I swallowed to relieve the tension in my throat but that didn't work. "I … um … I might not get to take the final after all." I tried to shrug casually but it came out awkward. I turned away and went into the bathroom before she had a chance to answer, closing the door behind me. I turned on the water and let it run, using the sound to hide the soft sobs escaping me.

After half an hour under the warm water, I came out, finally in control and wrapped comfortably in my aquamarine bathrobe. Alice was sitting on her bed still, her brows were furrowed, in confusion. Her head was resting on her knees and she was tapping one foot nervously on her bed. She looked completely perplexed about something. The minute I stepped out she asked me a question. "Bella…" She paused, obviously being very careful with her words, "Why would you … um... not be able to get to take the final? … Are you … dropping the class? Are you not… liking the class?" She seemed really anxious.

I shook my head, knowing what she meant. "No. I _love_ the class … it's really awesome … only, I messed up… I messed up pretty badly and... I might be dropped from the… uh... _roster_ involuntarily, before even getting to take the final." I looked at her sadly.

"When?" She said, still bewildered, her eyes wide. "What did you do?!"

I titled my head and met her gaze. "Yesterday. Here. I… I broke a cardinal rule… I think I… said too much. This class is big on keeping things…_quiet_."

Her held a look of confusion for a few more moments but then stark realization lit up her eyes and she dropped her feet from her bed and turned to look at me.

And to my total surprise, she was smiling!

"Bella. Um…" She paused again, trying not to smirk and searching for more code words, "You … um … _probably_ … I'm guessing, since, of course, I don't know what you're really talking about." The corners of her mouth twitched. "You didn't say anything that, uh… _non-class members_ would have known the meaning of. So _technically_, you really didn't do anything wrong … you were just venting about classes and boys to your friends. And what's the harm in that?"

I looked at her. "But I …" I stopped and thought about what she had just said. It was true enough, I hadn't said anything _outright_ about the League, I'd just let out my fears. "Are you, um... are you sure?"

She smirked, but hid it away quickly and hopped off her bed, grabbing her towel. "Like I said, I _couldn't possibly_ know for sure, since I don't really know what you're talking about," she said again, looking at me a little too pointedly.

I hid a smile. We both knew that she knew exactly what I was talking about.

"But _if_ I were in your class," she continued, "I'd tell you not to worry. You didn't do anything wrong, and … whether or not you continue to take the final is up to you … as was _probably_ explained to you earlier. I'm guessing, obviously." She stated again. I remembered the letter, asking me if I did intend to continue. The choice was mine, but of course, I'd already made it. Alice continued talking as she went through her drawers for clean underwear and such, "And _if_ I were in your class and you still didn't believe me even after I'd told you this, I would tell you to just wait until a little later today and you _might_ … um … find something that proved that you were, uh … _not 'involuntarily dropped from the roster'_, as you put it earlier."

My heart filled up like a balloon. I wasn't out. I felt like flying. I wasn't out!

"And just out of curiosity," She continued, stopping to look at me right in the eye before she entered the bathroom with her things, "_If_ I were in the class," she repeated, "I would be curious as to whether or not you were planning on … _continuing_ with the final … since… you know … you don't really _have_ to in this particular class… I'm _guessing_, of course." She looked at me questioningly, an excited and hopeful smile on her lips.

I felt like laughing, but I held it back. "_If_ I still have the option … I'd_definitely_ be taking the final. Whether or not I succeed, I wouldn't pass up the opportunity." I answered truthfully.

Alice beamed back at me happily and squealed, but she instantly caught herself and turned it into a cough. "Eh-em…" she cleared her throat and put on a straight face. "That's … uh … very good. Good for you. I, um … hope it all goes well for you." She turned and headed into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Once inside, I heard her call out to me. "Hey Bella?" came her muffled voice.

"Yea?" I called back loudly, so she could hear me.

"I still have no idea what you're talking about, you know!" She bellowed back.

I laughed, "I'm aware of that, thanks Alice!" I could've sworn I heard her giggle. I sat on my bed for a few minutes going back over the conversation we'd just had. _I wasn't out!_ That thought kept repeating in my head.

And finally I couldn't hold it back anymore. I stood on my bed and jumped up and down happily on my mattress, squealing in delight. Somewhere in my mind I was aware that me jumping on top of my bed wasn't a good idea, so I jumped off and continued my happy dance on the lavender rug on our floor. _I was still in!_ I thought, still jumping and dancing around merrily. _And something new was coming my way today! I was still in!_ _I was still_—

Ouch! Stupid purple rug!

--

* * *

**So what did you think?!**

** I have to thank all of you once again. There are 750 of you who have this story on your alert list! I'm so thrilled! Thank you so much :) You guys are awesome!  
**


	51. Advice, Logical Thinking and Letters

Although finals were a few weeks away, I knew better than to leave my studies to the last minute, so I spent the majority of the morning doing school work. First Alice and I studied for Art History 102, but I had that down pat, pretty much, so I moved on to my Orthographic Drawing project while Alice worked on the muslin mock-up of her final outfit (the one I was supposedly going to model for her class. I _really_ have to find a way out of that…).

We didn't talk anymore about my _'class'_ issues, but we didn't have to, for now, my fears were alleviated; I was still in and that was enough for me. For now. So Alice and I promptly went back to pretending like we both knew nothing about the League and the other's involvement in it.

I left a little while later for the Architecture building, deciding there was no better time than the present to draft up the preliminary part of my project. Fiddling around with my i-pod on the way there, I wasn't paying any attention to what was going on around me, until someone grabbed my arm.

"Gah!" I jumped, knocking down my bag and accidentally letting all the contents spill out.

"Sorry, Bella," Logan laughed as he, Josh and Emmett bent down to help me pick up my things, "we didn't mean to startle you."

My heartbeat slowly returned to its normal speed, "It's alright. What are a few premature gray hairs in the long run, right?" They laughed as they handed me my things. "So where are you boys off to?"

"The gym." Josh answered, smirking at Logan.

"Yea, Bells, someone here needs to work off his _frustrations._" Emmett said with a laugh, slapping Logan on the back.

Logan glared at them both before turning to me. "What about you, where are you going?"

"Architecture building. Working on stuff before finals come around."

"Ugh! Bells, don't say the F word." Emmett grimaced. "But we'll walk you. Maybe you can get this dude to talk." As we began our walk, I questioned him with a curious look, which he noticed right away and began explaining, "I've been trying to tell Josh about his fight with Tanya last night, but he won't fill us in on the details." He said as though he couldn't believe it his friend would keep such intimate details to himself.

Josh laughed, "Yea, Bella, you were there. Was it as dramatic as Emmett is making it out to be?"

"I can't believe you guys were eavesdropping!" Logan fumed, speeding up his pace and making us walk faster to keep up with him.

"Only for a minute!" Emmett responded defensively, "We're your friends, we snoop because we care." Josh and I laughed.

"Logan, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to," I told him, "But is everything OK?"

He sighed and shrugged, "I don't know. To be honest, I really have no idea." He looked at the three of us each in turn for a few seconds, as though fighting an internal struggle, before finally throwing his hands in the air, "Oh, alright, fine! I'll tell you."

"Yes!" Emmett and Josh pounded fists triumphantly. I shushed them both playfully.

"Shut up," Logan mumbled to the boys, staring off into space, "I got kind of mad at her last night because she was … well, you saw her! She was practically going at it on the dance floor last night with that Rob dude." He looked away bitterly.

"But weren't you dancing with Victoria?" I asked.

"Not like that!"

"Right, but if Tanya is your _friend_ then what does it matter who she was dancing with?"

Logan shook his head, "Its not _who_ she was dancing with, it was _how._"

Joshua cut in, "The better question would be _why_ you were staring at her while you were with your own date."

Logan shot him a look of pure venom. "I was looking out for her, clearly."

"No way, dude," Emmett said. "The only thing that's _clear_ is how jealous you were."

I shook my head, "I hate to agree with these guys, since they're enjoying giving you a hard time a little too much," I gave the other two a sour look before turning back to Logan, "but they're right. I'm not an expert or anything, but it seems to me that if you spent your time looking at a girl other than your date last night, then you're not really into her that much. Am I right?"

He shrugged. "I guess. I'm not really into Vicky that much anymore. Did you know that I went out with her last year?"

I nodded, "Yea, I heard that. Does she even go here?"

He shook his head, "Nah, She goes to another school not too far away. She was up here for the weekend; I invited her up for no reason in particular, just for a good time I guess…" Emmett and Josh let out a few cat calls, which Logan grinned at but promptly ignored upon seeing me roll my eyes, "but, anyway, she left early." he added hastily.

_Thank goodness,_ I thought. But instead of saying that I opted for something a little nicer, "Well, I think that's good. No offense, but she wasn't very nice."

He grinned again, staring at Emmett and Josh. "Yea, I've heard." The other two suddenly became very interested in the trees in the distance.

"You deserve someone … nicer." _Someone like Tanya_, I wanted to say, but I didn't want to push the subject.

Josh, clearly, did not mind being pushy. "And speaking of nice, funny and pretty friends of ours that you have the hots for, did you make up with Tanya yet?"

Emmett snorted and Logan turned a bright shade of pink, his fists balled up at his sides, "Dude!" He yelled exasperatedly.

"Sorry, man," Josh said seriously, "I didn't mean that. What I meant was _very_ nice, _very _funny, and incredibly witty friend of ours that you have been too stupid to notice for two years now. How is she?" He asked innocently while Emmett was laughing so hard he had tears running down his face.

_Boys_! I thought as I watched Logan go even redder, but even I couldn't squash the giggles that bubbled to the surface. It was only a matter of time, I figured, before he snapped and knocked out both his friends. "Ignore them, Logan." I said, trying to put on a serious face, "But seriously, you guys seemed pretty tense last night. Is everything OK now?"

He ran his hands through his wavy brown hair. "Not really. Not yet. We were fighting for a little while; eventually we both just went our separate ways. I haven't talked to her since." He looked so _glum_, I instantly felt bad for him.

"What made you start fighting, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh, this should be good." Emmett spoke up again, crossing his arms across his chest and staring at Logan expectantly.

Logan ignored him, "It was not that big a deal, she just blew it way out of proportion, I just took her away from her date. I mean, he had his hands …_everywhere._ I didn't want her doing something she'd regret later. People do stupid things when they're drunk." He stared daggers at the other two as they laughed, "You're telling me you two idiots would've just let that happen to one of your friends?"

Josh patted Logan on the shoulder, "No, we wouldn't have let any of our friends do something they'd regret. You know that. But then, Tanya is her own boss. She can do what she likes."

"And _who_ she likes."

I dropped my books and held Logan back while Josh got in between him and Emmett. Both of them were cracking up as Logan seethed next to me. "Just kidding, dude!" Emmett said, trying unsuccessfully to squash his laughter. "But seriously, man, even if we did think she was out of control, which she wasn't, we would've gone about it with subtlety. We wouldn't have picked her up caveman style right in the middle of the dance floor and marched her outside like a naughty toddler."

Josh's eyes got wide. "You did what?! In front of her date? Oh man, you are so going to be in the doghouse for a while." He added, shaking his head and chuckling.

Emmett chuckled, "Yea dude, you _never_ pick a girl up like that … well, at least not in public. Take it from me, man, I learned that the hard way. Chicks _really_ hate when you do that without warning." He shuddered at some unspoken memory. "Hopefully, for your sake, she did have a few drinks and doesn't remember that part."

I laughed, "Yeah, some people even make out with their best friends and don't even remember it after a few drinks." I stared pointedly at Logan.

"What?" He looked at me curiously.

I sighed, knowing very well that I didn't have permission to tell Logan about that, so I moved on to something else, "Look, you should really go talk to Tanya, because it seems to me like you wouldn't have been paying so much attention to her if you didn't like her."

"Of course I like her; she's one of my best friends."

Josh rolled his eyes, "I think Bella means you _really like_ her, Logan."

"Oh." Logan shook his head, "Nah, Bella, she doesn't think of me that way. And I don't think of her in that way either. She's just pissed off at me."

"She's been mad at you plenty of times and you never really cared this much before," Josh pointed out.

"Yea, well I always knew she'd forgive me at the end."

"And now?" Emmett asked.

Logan was quiet for a minute. "OK fine!" He threw his hands up again, "Fine, _this time_, she'll forgive me but then she'll go back with that guy!"

"Ah-ha!" Emmett exclaimed. "You _are_ jealous!"

"Maybe a little," Logan muttered.

"Dude, just go apologize. And explain yourself." Josh advised his friend. "And bring flowers or something. Girls go all soft for a guy when flowers are involved. She'll be putty in your hands." Emmett nodded in approval.

I rolled my eyes, "Nice, boys. I'll make sure to quote those words to Rose and Mel." Both their eyes widened and I laughed before turning to Logan. "But they're right. About talking to her not about the flowers … but just in case, I guess it couldn't hurt."

"I don't know about this …" Logan said.

"Well it's up to you, but I think she'd be a lot more understanding than you'd imagine. Just tell her the truth and apologize. See where things go from there." He looked at me questioningly, "I can't tell you how I know the way she'll respond, but just trust me."

"Bella…?" He said slowly, trying to extract more details out of me.

I shook my head, "I can't answer anymore questions; we girls have to stick together."

We were now standing in front of the Architecture building, "Well this is my stop. Thanks for walking me, boys."

"No prob, Bells," Emmett said, "See ya later." They all said goodbye and turned back, heading towards the gym.

"Oh and Logan! She's allergic to carnations, but she loves hydrangeas and yellow daisies. Good luck!"

--

* * *

I spent a large part of the afternoon drafting at my art table in the cubicle I shared with Angela, my classmate. But I was alone in the studio today, which was a good thing since I had a lot to think about. Drafting was one of those things your hands can do while your mind is only half paying attention; perfect for when you have other things in your head. And what did I have my mind wrapped around today, one might ask? What else? 

The Twilight League.

I pulled the plastic triangle over the clean tracing paper and dragged the lead holder over the edge, making each line crisp and clear as my mind wandered. I had six people I was sure of, one I was thinking might be in; Rosalie was a maybe… something about her words had tipped me off, but I couldn't be sure. There was a chance the third robe belonged to her. Josh, Jasper, Alice, Melanie, Logan and Emmett were definites. At least I was pretty sure. After all, Emmett I'd seen with the pocket watch. But then again, _I_ had a pocket watch and I wasn't in the League. Not yet.

_Hopefully_ not yet.

But the more I thought about it, the more it didn't seem they'd let anyone keep that stuff if they didn't join. I mean, they are all about the secrecy. They would demand it back surely, not risking the chance of people waving it around or losing it. And Emmett was friends with all the right people, it seemed. As was Alice.

As was Edward.

I'd been thinking about it for a while, actually, since I found out about Alice. Edward was a Cullen, he knew all the right people and he definitely had all the right characteristics. He was kind, loyal, courageous, adventurous and all-in-all a great person. His family was known to have been members so there was a definite possibility.

But some things just didn't fit. My mind drifted back to a conversation we'd had earlier in the year. It was around the time Alice had been really shifty, disappearing at random times. At the time I thought she'd just been spending a lot of time at Jaspers but now I knew the truth: she'd been pledging.

…_I'd seen Alice in class but as soon as it was over, she promptly left, giving me some excuse about homework. So I went to the dining hall by myself, figuring I could use the time to look over my notes. But I wasn't alone for long._

"_Hey," came the silky voice of Edward Cullen._

_I looked up to see him standing up behind the chair opposite of me with a smile._

"_Mind if I sit down?" He asked._

"_Not at all," I responded, "what's been up?"_

"_Oh, just keeping busy," he put his tray down and took a seat. "I hear you've been pretty busy lately."_

"_Alice told you about my studio nights?" I guessed._

"_Yea."_

"_Actually, I think she's been pretty busy herself. Either that or she's avoiding me. You know anything about that?"_

_He didn't meet my eyes. "She's been busy too."_

_I knew he was lying, "Come on, I can tell you know something. What gives? Did I do something?"_

"_Trust me, Bella; it's got nothing to do with you. And she's fine. She'll probably be busy for a little while, though. We all will." He looked at me apologetically._

"_What are you guys…?"_

_He interrupted before I could finish. "I can't tell you that, and I have to ask you not to pry. But in a little while, everything will go back to normal, I promise."_

He had been right, of course, things had settled back down in no time. But there was one particular thing that didn't fit: he'd known about the busy times ahead. And not in the he-was-going-through-the-same-thing kind of way. Not at all. He knew about it in the he'd-_already-been_-through-the-same-thing kind of way or in the he'd-be-involved-in-the-same-thing kind of way. But that didn't make any sense.

You see, Edward is a freshman, like me and Alice. _If_ he was in the League, his pledge time would've have been last term; the same time I was sure Alice's had been. He'd started school at the same time she and I had. So he couldn't be in it. He hadn't pledged when she had. If he _had_ pledged when she had, he would have been running around as crazily as she'd been around that time. I didn't hang out with him that much around then, so I couldn't know for sure, but when I did see him, he was always calm. _And with some new girl,_ I thought jealously. If he _had_ been pledging at the same time there were a few things that would've happened: One, he would've been a lot more suspicious and jumpy, as I'd been when I first found out and throughout the first two tasks; always expecting something to come out at me. Alice had been that way too, always mysteriously disappearing. I hadn't paid too much attention to it then, figuring that it was her business, but thinking back on it, it fits.

Another thing was that if he _had_ been pledging, he wouldn't have said what he did about being busy, he wouldn't have known when she was going to be busy because he would have been going through the same thing and the League never tells you _when_ things are coming your way. They just appear. It was part of their mystery. The obvious conclusion was that he hadn't been talking about the League stuff, simply about school work or something equally normal.

The last thing was that the Twilight League seemed to view pledging as an individual activity; they only did one person at a time. I knew this for one major reason: the pictures of my grandmother and great-grandfather's inductions. In each, people had been congratulating and surrounding only _them._ No one else. Those photographs stated clearly_'Sabrina Hayden, Induction into Twilight League, 1963'_ and_'Matthew Hayden, Induction into Twilight League, 1936'. _If they were with a group being inducted at the same time, it would have been a group picture, or a few of them shaking hands with others, and there would have been people congratulating _multiple_ individuals.

Furthermore, I knew from my own experience that I was the only person pledging now. In the tasks, I was always alone, and each one was done when they'd known I would be around and alone, or in whatever position they wanted me in at the time. For example, the last task had been during my soccer game. It was specially thought out for me, no one else could have had the same task; it was unique to my situation. Besides, with the intensity of which they tested their pledges, I knew they were really looking for the right people, the right qualities._Specific_ qualities. They had paid close attention to me, to everything I did. And they were students, so it's not like they have all the time in the world to keep tabs on a bunch of people at once. Each member was special to them.

As they'd explained to me during my first meeting with them, at the masked ball, _"Among other things, we exist as a League of close comrades, so to speak, supplying our university experience with adventure and tradition. It's two of our main purposes."_

They were a very close-knit group and I had a distinct feeling that anyone up for joining was carefully selected and watched during their pledging. Therefore, each member pledged _alone_.

No. Edward couldn't be in the League. He has never pledged.

My heart sank. I don't know why, but I desperately wanted Edward to be a part of it. I suppose it's because if I do make it in, then I wouldn't have to hide anything from him. And also, I want him to be a part of a world that had become so important to me.

But I suppose, if I don't make it in, then I wouldn't really be hiding anything from him. The thought depressed me even further; it wasn't sure that I was going to pass this last test, whatever it may be. And if I didn't, then I'd still have Edward.

But would I still have the rest of my friends? Those that were in the League? Surely they wouldn't just desert me? No. They wouldn't.

I repeated that in my head a few times; they wouldn't. And if I did make it in, as I hoped I would, then I would see to it that Edward soon became a member. I don't know anyone who deserves great things and is as wonderful as he is. The League would be lucky to have him.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I immediately pulled out and checked the screen. "Hey, Edward," _Speak of the angel, _I thought as I flipped the lid up. "What's up?"

"Hey, do you want to come to dinner in the dining hall? I know it's kind of early, but we're all meeting there."

"Sure. I'll pack my stuff and meet you over there."

"I have a better idea, let me in and I'll help you carry your stuff and walk with you."

"Where are you?!" I said, getting up out of my chair and walking out of my cubicle and towards the entrance to the building.

"Outside. I can't believe you need a special thing on your school ID in order for the swipe thing to let you into the building."

In the distance I saw Edward outside the glass doors, "Well you need the same thing in order to swipe into your labs, don't you?"

"Yes, but we have a_ reason_ for that. There are dangerous chemicals kept in there. What are you guys hiding? Killer pencils? Secret plans of CIA headquarters?"

I laughed as I ran to open the door and let him in. We both closed our phones as he scooped me up into a hug. "I'm glad you came. You've never seen my work space before!" I realized as we pulled apart.

He smiled, "No I haven't. Lead the way, Swan."

"OK, Cullen." I lead him to my little cubicle that I shared with Angela. "This is my side," I pointed to the right side of the small space. Next to my drafting table, there was a flat desk space cluttered with papers and drafting materials and a few pictures tacked up on the short, four-foot-high walls of the cubicle. Edward studied each photograph.

"Hey, I remember this!" He said, pointing to the one closest to the drafting table. It was one of me and him at a party in the beginning of the year, before we were ever together. Someone had taken it while we weren't looking, while we were standing laughing at something.

"Yea, I love that picture. You're laughing so hard, your nose crinkled in the cutest way! What were we laughing at, do you remember?"

"Emmett was doing his version of the funky chicken and Alice was imitating. This was at the first party of the year."

"Oh yea!"

He untacked the picture and studied it. "You looked great that night. I remember not being able to keep my eyes off of you." His eyes met mine and held them. "I was going to ask you to dance, but you already seemed to see through my pretenses, not that I wanted to try anything with you … you were different from any other girls, I knew that right off the bat. And your friend wouldn't stop pestering me after you introduced us. Remember? Jenna, I think."

I laughed, "_Janet._ And I thought you had fun with her?"

He chuckled and shook his head, "I was actually," he hesitated, blushing slightly, "well I was asking her about _you_ the whole time. She didn't really seem to notice though. She kept batting her eyelashes at me. Do girls really think that's attractive?"

I laughed in response and he smiled. "You were really asking her about me?"

He met my gaze again, stepping closer to me. "Bella, you seem to be unaware of just how much you captured me from the first moment we met. I knew from the very beginning it was more than I had ever felt for anyone else. You are so special."

I put my arms around his neck, unable to keep a blissful smile from spreading across my face, "I love you."

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close, "I love you too, my Bella. So much." And with that, he kissed me.

--

* * *

A couple hours later, after dinner was over, Edward walked with me back towards the dorms. He walked me to my door and kissed me goodbye. 

But I didn't pull away from our kiss, "You should come in," I purred near his lips, "You wouldn't want to leave me all alone in my room, would you?" I pouted, looking up at him seductively.

He took a deep breath, tightening his grasp on my hips. "Bella, you're making it really difficult for me to refuse you."

"Then don't refuse me," I kissed him again, pressing my lips aggressively on his.

He kissed me back, passionately, pulling my body closer to his for a long while, before he finally pulled away. "If I go in there now, I will never get any work done." I pouted again and he looked as if he were in pain, "Please, Bella, I _have_ to study. You don't want me to fail my class do you?"

I sighed, pulling myself away from him, "No, I don't. OK, fine, Edward, go study."

He smiled at me and kissed my forehead, "I love you, Bella."

"I love you too," I said, letting my eyes close as he kissed me.

"And I'll be right upstairs if you need anything." His green eyes stared intensely into my brown ones.

"Anything?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and leaning into him again, putting my arms around his waist.

He laughed and took my hands from around his waist, holding them in his, "Yes, anything, but not _that._ Not right now, anyway." He kissed the back of both my hands. "I'm going to go now, before you make me change my mind."

"Fine." I kissed him one last time, before saying goodbye and going into my room, leaning back against the door once it was closed. _The things that boy does to me…_

I put my stuff down next to my desk and sat down, ready to check my email. But on top of my laptop, perched on the keys and against the screen, was a familiar envelope.

A parchment envelope.

I squealed excitedly as I picked it up and began to open in. I'd almost forgotten about what Alice had said this morning!

But as I looked at the envelope, I noticed something was different. It took a minute to figure out exactly what was off, but I soon noticed. It wasn't addressed to 'Isabella Hayden' or 'Isabella Swan' as the last few ones had been. This one had only one thing written on it: '_Hayden'_. No first name. I had received a letter like that before, a long time ago and in the presence of masked Twilight League members.

I opened it and pulled out a folded up piece of parchment paper. It was crisp as all the other letters had been, except the color was slightly faded. It looked older. I slowly unfolded it, carefully. The letters on the page weren't the same calligraphy ones I was used to seeing; instead they were in neat handwriting I had recognized from once before.

Tears sprung into my eyes as I read my grandmother's words.

_To My Descendant,_

_I truly hope that this letter finds its way to you, for if it does, that means you have chosen to continue the same path that I did all those years ago. Of course, to me it has only been two years, but surely, to you it must be much longer than that. If you have come as far in this adventure as to have received this letter, then you are close, so very close indeed, to unlocking every door of this mystery. For this, my dear, congratulations!_

_And did I not tell you of how marvelous an adventure it would be?! How thrilling was it to find Stephenie Meyer's own study?! I hope you didn't try to get past the iron gate the same way I did, I should have known my head would not fit through it, honestly, the way my brain works baffles even me at times. Finally I found a way to climb over. I do hope that was your first instinct. I think that was the way most people have done it, although I do know of one person who picked the lock, but that takes some questionable skills that I hope you have never had to learn._

_In any case, I am certain that by now you have been riddled with curiosity over who these mysterious cloaked patrons are. I remember feeling that way when I was in your position, always wondering and worrying about what was to come next; excited and apprehensive all at the same time. My only advice is this: do not let it drive you mad. Enjoy the adventure as it comes, my darling, and do not forget to trust in the League and in yourself. You wouldn't have gotten this far if you weren't worthy and capable of completing the journey._

_As I sit here, writing this letter, I wonder who it is that you are. Are you my son or daughter? Or perhaps my grandson or granddaughter? Whoever you are, you must have proven to be quite extraordinary to have come even this far. The challenges you have faced should have stumped most. I do not know who you are or even if will know you when you read this, but that matters not. Whomever you may be, it fills my heart with joy to think that perhaps some part of me has helped you along your way. _

_I don't know if you already know this, but my father was also in the Twilight League. He left letters for me in his time at this University as I now leave for you. Although I'd never believed it before, I soon realized that what I'd admired most about him, his courage and determination, those traits also live in me. I cannot put into words the happiness I feel in thinking that these traits have been passed down to yet another Hayden family member. I am so proud of you, my darling._

_Now, I suppose we must get down to business. It is customary in the Twilight League to warn a prospective member at this stage of the journey. Surely at this point you think you have faced the most difficult, but alas, you have not. You may believe you are familiar with our style of testing but, please, my darling descendant, __Do Not Be Fooled__! What is to come will challenge you in ways you may not have believed possible. At this point, only one question is of importance: _

_In the presence of true fear, will all your preconceived notions of friendship and faith hold up?_

_In the road ahead you will face adversity, dread, and terrorizing doubt. It will be a complicated ordeal and I hope that you can overcome it. I pray that you find the inner strength to surpass any mountain that stands in your way. I know you can do it, I have faith in you._

_Always know that whatever may happen from this moment forth, the idea of this letter reaching your hands has makes my heart swell with immense happiness. I cannot stress enough how proud of you I am. _

_My prayers are with you as you continue on this journey. And once again, my child, do not ever forget:_

_Be Safe_

_Be Strong_

_Be Brave!_

_My love is with you always,_

_Sabrina Hayden_

_-- _

My hands shook as I finished reading the letter. I wiped the tears that blurred the neat black characters on the paper as they toppled over.

--

* * *

**Hope you liked it!  
**


	52. New Memories

The next evening we were all gathered at Jasper's apartment after dinner and I was finally beginning to unwind. Throughout the day I'd been hyper-aware of the fact that I was being watched, and not only that but I'd been extremely fidgety because, believe it or not, there is a _reason_ I don't normally wear white. Hello, I'm a klutz! I tend to spill … often! I didn't even own a white blouse, I'd had to borrow one from Alice this morning to pair with my own jeans and boots. As soon as I'd asked, she clamped her lips together; an obvious attempt to keep a gigantic grin off her face, but it didn't stop her eyes from shining with clear excitement.

Now it was evening and I _know_ they would've seen me by now. And if they didn't Alice and Jasper could fill them in so I could relax. Somehow I'd managed to get through the entire day without any major stains … except for this one ink stain from my pen, but it was so small I was hoping Alice wouldn't notice before I had a chance to clean it.

We were doing our joint study session again which helped a lot since it provided a good balance of studying without the intense pressure from staring at a text book. Even though finals were still a few weeks away, the workload was becoming increasingly difficult for us all. Jasper was making the popcorn, while the rest of us lounged around, preparing and waiting for Emmett get here. I sat on the couch in Edward's arms, going through my notes while he went through his.

"Jasper," Rosalie said as she came back from the spare bedroom closing the lid of her cell phone that she'd just been using. "I just got off the phone with Mom and Dad. I'm living here next year." Jasper nodded, acknowledging her news. "You know this means we're getting rid of all the crap you have in the other room, right?"

Jasper shot her an annoyed look, "Most of that _crap_ is yours anyway. You've been treating this apartment as your personal storage closet since I moved in."

As they bickered I couldn't help wondering what other 'crap' Rosalie kept here… maybe a silver robe?

"You have an _entire apartment_ to yourself, what's it to you if I keep stuff here?" She challenged her twin.

"It wouldn't bother me at all if you kept them in one place. Instead of all over the place."

"_Excuse me!_" She gestured around the apartment, "Um, I don't see bras or clothes thrown anywhere around here. Do you?"

Jasper just rolled his eyes, "Sure. It's not like you keep your crap in my room and then charge in whenever its convenient for you, regardless of who is in there and what they're doing." He said sarcastically, "Oh wait. That's _exactly_ what you do."

Rosalie's hands shot to her hips, "That happened _once_."

"Ha!" Her twin laughed humorlessly, "Try eight times in the last two months."

Rosalie rolled his eyes and dismissed him, turning back towards Alice and me, "You guys, I'm going to be living _here_ next year. My parents insisted I use the spare bedroom, since this apartment was originally intended for us to share."

Alice nodded, "I figured you'd be doing that. Bella and I are going to move into Melanie's apartment, a couple floors down and that's a two bedroom, so it works out perfectly."

"Good." Rose said, grabbing her notebook and sitting down on one side of the sectional couch.

"Rose, this place is amazing. What made you decide to live in the dorms?" I asked, wondering why anyone would choose dorm life over this.

"When it came time to deciding last year, I wasn't too sure whether or not I'd want to be around the people living in the building." She said simply.

"Oh, did you have a fight with someone?" I asked, interested.

She shook her head, "No, just a slight altercation. I almost got in a lot of trouble for—," She stopped abruptly and I noticed Jasper and Alice exchange wide eyed glances. At that precise moment, Rosalie seemed to catch herself, "Oh, never mind. It's water under the bridge now."

I looked between the three of them, "What?" What had just happened?

"Also, I wanted to be close to Emmett," She added hastily. "And he decided to stay in the dorms."

I was about to open my mouth and question their behavior, but Edward's arm tightened around me and he leaned into my ear, "Can you hand me that pen?" He gestured his other hand towards the coffee table where the pen was. I meant to hand it to him then turn back to Rosalie, but Edward's eyes met mine, "Thank you," his silky voice whispered to me as his green eyes captured mine. His gaze was intense and he instantly made me forget what I was thinking … and then he kissed me, making me melt as only he could.

What was I saying?

A few minutes later, Emmett finally came in carrying his backpack and a flat white cardboard Fed-Ex box. "Hey all." To my surprise he turned to me and gave me the box in his hands. "Bells, this came for you. It's from our parents. I'm figuring they didn't know what your room number was so they had it sent to ours but it has your name on it."

I couldn't keep the shock off my face. _What could his parents have sent to me?_ I thought, in utter confusion. Apparently I wasn't the only one thinking the same thing.

"Were you expecting something from them?" Edward asked me, looking up from his textbook.

I shook my head and accepted the box from Emmett, who promptly put his backpack down and sat next to Rosalie, giving her a kiss on the cheek before taking out his notes. "Well open it, Bella." He said to me once he saw that I was just sitting there staring at the package.

I delicately peeled off the tape around the box and opened it. I could feel everyone's eyes staring at me as I pulled out a little note inside addressed to me. I opened the piece of stationary that was folded in half and read.

_Bella,_

_Here are the pictures I promised you. My wife and I found quite a few of them, most are from my parent's old albums. I had fun going through the memories, and hope that you enjoy them. They are yours to keep. _

_Always,_

_Carlisle & Esme Cullen_

_P.S- Kindly remind our children that their cell phones work both ways._

--

"Oh my God," the words escaped me as a stunned whisper, as I covered my mouth with one hand, holding the note in the other. I'd almost forgotten about the conversation Carlisle and I had had in the hospital.

Edward's arm tightened around me. "Are you alright?"

I nodded and handed him the note so he could read it, "I had almost forgotten. When I was in the hospital after the last soccer game he'd told me about how he knew my mom when he was younger and about my grandparents." I said to him as he read over the note. "Did you know my grandmother was your dad's godmother?"

"Seriously?" Alice and Emmett said at the same time, making me jump slightly, I'd become oblivious to the fact that there were others in the room. Now everyone was gathered around the couch, trying looking at the note over Edward's shoulder or staring into the box. I nodded to them. "What did Dad say?" Alice asked.

I smiled, "I think your parents want you to call them more often." Edward smirked and handed her the note, then turned back to me. I looked into the box and found a leather bound photo album. My fingers trembled slightly as I pulled it out.

Edward leaned into my ear, "You don't have to open it now if you don't want to, you know."

"I don't mind, unless you'd prefer to carry on with the studying," I said, remembering why we were all here. "Sorry, I forgot—"

"No way, Bella, I want to see your family!" Alice said excitedly, seated next to me.

I chuckled as my friends huddled close around me. The first few pictures in the album were of Sabrina and her friends; they looked to be just a little older than us.

"It's grams and grandpa!" Emmett said pointing to two of the people next to Sabrina in one of the black and white photographs, "Man, gramps looked so good back then! I guess that's where I get my looks from!"

Edward grinned and shook his head as he stared at the photographs but kept a firm hand around my shoulders, offering support. I was filled with emotions … I couldn't name them all, there were too many; nostalgia, joy, longing, delight… I fought the keep them at bay, staying quite, but still unable to stop smiling at some of the pictures.

There were so many. The first few were of Sabrina when she was a little older than we all were now. Must've been after college. A lot of them where with the Cullen's grandparents and a few other people, usually the same bunch. Then the next few were of Sabrina and baby Renee and the Cullen's grandmother with a blonde eight year old Carlisle.

"Oh my gosh! How cute!" I said, pointing to a picture of young Carlisle next to younger Renee and with a few other children I didn't recognize. Renee was happy and smiling at the camera. I could see some people in the background, everyone was dressed up. There were a lot of pictures of Sabrina and Edward's grandmother and father threw the years and Renee and Carlisle as they grew up. There was even one of seventeen year old Renee hugging Esme and Carlisle on their wedding day. That was taken before she eloped with my Dad. I couldn't help but wonder about the life she could've had if I hadn't come along….

Edward squeezed my side gently as my eyes lingered on the picture, pulling me out of my trance, trying to read my emotions. I half smiled and went back to looking through the rest of the pictures.

We continued to go through the album, slowly. I couldn't get enough of them. Even Rosalie and Jasper's father was in a few of these, and was it my imagination or did some of the people here look familiar? I could've sworn I saw someone that looked very much like Josh in some of the pictures. There were other familiar features on some faces in photographs, but I could hardly take notice, I was too busy memorizing every detail of my mother and grandmother. There was one picture of Sabrina and her husband, my grandfather, holding a four year old Renee that almost sent me over the edge. They looked so insanely happy.

But it was towards the end that I finally lost my composure. Thus far I'd never seen a picture of my grandmother with me anywhere, not even in the albums back home. Until now. The tears finally left my eyes as I came across a photograph of my grandmother, her hair starting to look gray now, holding a tiny, newborn baby with a full head of brown fuzzy hair and full pink lips. It was one of the few photographs that were in color.

"Oh my gosh," I heard Rosalie whisper from somewhere around me, but I couldn't respond. I hastily wiped the tears away, trying not to let anyone notice as I turned the page. Staring back at me was the last picture, it was of three people; Renee, who looked to be around my age, sitting next to her was a middle aged, laughing Sabrina who held in her lap a giggling toddler with long brown hair, a pink sundress and the same heart shaped face and pouty lips as the other two women.

"Bella," Edward whispered into my ear. He reached a gentle finger to wipe away my tears and kissed my temple. I smiled, meaning to turn back to him but I couldn't tear my eyes away from Sabrina's, she looked so happy and proud, with little me sitting joyfully on her lap. "My God, you guys all look exactly the same." He said softly. I nodded, still staring at the page with a smile on my face and tears in my eyes.

Suddenly I felt two more pairs of arms wrap around me; Alice and Rosalie had suddenly thrown themselves around me and Edward. I chuckled and leaned my head against Alice's.

"Oh, you guys!" I heard Emmett mumbled before he, too, put his huge arms around all of us. We all laughed as Emmett threw himself on us all.

Alice squealed, "Ow! Emmett, you're squishing me!"

Emmett didn't even budge, "It's your own fault for being so little." I couldn't hold back my laughter as they bickered back and forth, with Edward joining in, siding with Alice. Soon we were all cracking up, piled up on top of each other before hearing a distinct _click_ and the bright flash of a camera.

In front of us stood Jasper with his camera in hand and a grin on his face. "Say cheese!" He said before snapping another picture as we laughed.

Soon we extracted ourselves from the pile of arms. "Can you call your parents so I can thank them?" I asked Edward. He nodded, kissing me before pulling out his phone. Jasper came over and handed me a box of tissues. "Thanks," I said to him, taking one.

Rose and Emmett went through the album together as I talked to Carlisle and Esme, Edward's mother and thanked them. Esme had the kindest and most gentle voice. She was extremely nice to me and even invited me to come up to their house at some point during the summer, stating how much she'd love to meet me. Eventually, after many, many _thank yous_ on my part, Alice and Emmett each took their turns in talking to their parents. Alice filled them in on the details of this years April Fool's Day and Emmett whined about having to take it easy from now on. Even standing a few feet away I could hear both Esme and Carlisle laughing as Emmett joked to them on the phone. Even Rosalie and Jasper took turns speaking to them, which when I thought about it, made sense since they'd grown up with them.

I marveled at seeing them all … a real family.

_I had that once too,_ I thought to myself, a little nostalgic. Edward seemed to read my mind, as only he could. He wrapped both arms around me and leaned back on to couch with my back snuggled against his chest. Even though I missed my mother and the grandmother I never got the chance to really know, I wasn't sad. No, I was hopeful. _Someday I'll have that again, _I thought as I leaned comfortably against my Edward.

--

* * *

**Many apologies for the delay, but I can't put chapters out until I'm sure they are right, you know what I mean? Anywho, I'm not totally satisfied with this chapter but I couldn't delay any longer, hope you like it anyway, though :)**


	53. Every Rose Has a Thorn pt 1

As the cool spring breeze hit me, I threw on my light jacket on my walk from the Studio back towards the dorms. I had spent a large portion of my afternoon craned over my drafting table, working, so I was looking forward to laying horizontally on my comfy bed for a good long while.

It was the middle of the week, and everyone was off doing their own thing, which suited me just fine; I'd had too much on my mind these days anyway. Rosalie's strange behavior was stuck in my head. At this point I was almost sure she at least _knew_ about the Twilight League. What other reason would she have acted the way she did back at Jasper's the other day? And she 'kept stuff' at his place, that much she had admitted to, so the third robe could definitely have been hers.

_But then again_… her actual words had struck me. _"No, just a slight altercation. I almost got in a lot of trouble for—,"_ What? What could have happened to make her not want to live in the same building as League members? What did she almost get in trouble for and with whom?

I'd gone through the possibilities many times, and I'd come to the same conclusion; Rosalie knew, but it was certainly possible that she didn't actually get in.

Or _almost_ didn't get in.

"Bella!" I spun around as I heard Rosalie's voice call out from her red BMW that just pulled up next to be. _Speak of the devil…_

"Hey Rose!" I walked up to the open driver's side window and leaned down to talk to her, "What's up?"

"Not much," she answered, "I'm going into town now to get a few things I need, and you know how Alice gets mad every time anyone goes near a shop without her, but I can't find her anywhere. Know where she is?"

I shook my head, "Have you called her?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes at me, "No," her voice dripping with sarcasm.

I laughed, "OK, so she's not answering her phone? I don't know, do you want to check the dorms?"

She shook her head, "I checked already. Anyway, I have to go into town and the stores will close in a couple of hours." Rosalie's tone was sounding odd… "Hey!" She said suddenly, "Why don't you come with me?!" The cheeriness in her voice was off … something was up.

I stared at her for a few seconds, trying to read something in her face that would tell me what she was up to.

"Hello? Bella? You awake?"

I nodded, "Yea, listen, thanks Rose, but I'm kinda tired and my back is killing me from hunching over all afternoon."

Rosalie put the car in park and stepped out, her face still holding the unbefitting brightness so uncharacteristic of her usually poised nature. When Rosalie was excited about something, she expressed it in the most gracefully cool way I'd ever seen, she was never this exuberant. Outright excitement was more Alice's domain. "Come on," she said taking my bag. "It'll be fun! And I really don't want to go alone."

Something was up, but I couldn't place it, and truthfully, whatever it was, I was too worn out to care right now. "Rosalie, I'm _really_ not in the mood to go shopping." I said honestly. "Alice is probably having dinner or something."

"No, I checked, she's not at the dining hall either. I can't figure out where she disappeared to." She successfully took my bag from me and threw it into the backseat of her car.

_Oh, Alice disappeared again?_ I thought to myself as I gave in and followed Rosalie to the car, _Probably League stuff agai—_

Wait a minute. I stopped in my tracks as things began to make sense in my head.

If Alice was unreachable now, then she was undoubtedly doing League stuff, but if Rosalie couldn't find her that meant Rose wasn't in the League._Oh, I was almost sure she was involved in it somehow,_ I mused to myself as I shrugged and followed Rosalie to the car, walking around to the passenger side door. I could barely get my mind around the thought; Rosalie was not a member of the Twilight League.

So then, the third robe in Jasper's room didn't belong to Rosalie? _Then who—_

_Hold it!_ My eyes widened as my brain wrapped itself around Rosalie's strange behavior. _Let's see, Rosalie is being overly cheery, and she just happens to not know where Alice is, after she almost let something slip last night…_ This couldn't be a coincidence.

"Bella, are you just going to stand there or are you getting in?" Rosalie called through the open window.

I was still standing outside the car door, but I didn't move to open it. "Rose, what did you say you needed to get?"

She looked at me curiously, "Just a few things I need to pick up."

"Like what?"

"I have a list."

"Which includes?"

She sighed impatiently, but took out a tiny piece of paper from her jeans pocket, "Batteries, ligh—"

"I have batteries at the dorms. Why don't we go get it and then the rest of the stuff we can get tomorrow?" I kept my tone innocent, as I tried to extract more information from her.

Rose's voice was getting a certain edge to it, a sure sign of impatience, "I need a specific kind." She put on the fake cheeriness again, "And it'll be fun! Won't you please come with me?" She asked sweetly.

My spidey-senses were tingling; _something was definitely up_. Rosalie was never pushy about anything; she was usually astonishingly independent and confident, never needing anyone else to do what she wanted. She could do it herself. So why…?

_Unless…_

What if Rosalie _was_ in fact in the League and she was just trying to throw me off the track? After what happened at Jasper's the other day, it could definitely be possible… I mean, Jasper and Joshua knew I was onto them by now … and, of course, so did Alice. And it just didn't make sense that Rosalie wasn't in the League, she was strong and determined enough to have completed any mission they threw at her, no matter how difficult it was, plus she certainly did have all the qualities they required in their members.

Something had to have happened while she was pledging … the details of it, I wasn't sure of yet. But Rosalie was in. One way or another, she'd gotten in, and now she was doing their bidding by trying to throw me off the track.

_Oh she thinks she's so slick!_ I thought to myself, hiding a grin. _We'll just see about that._ "OK, well then I just need to get something at the dorms."

"No, come on Bella," She said suddenly. The smile was suddenly back on her face, "I mean, the stores will close in a couple hours and I want to make sure I leave enough time for everything I'm looking for."

I couldn't be positive about what was going on yet, but I had a good idea. _A damn good idea._

All I needed now was proof.

Rosalie seemed to want two things in particular: first she wanted me to stay out of the dorms and second, she wanted to make sure I didn't associate her with anything Alice was doing.

_Fine_, I thought. _I'll play along…_ but I was sure as hell not going to make this easy. At some point, I would get the truth, of that I was sure. "Fine," I said, getting into the car. "Do you want me to try Alice's cell phone again? Maybe she'll pick up."

Rosalie shrugged, "Sure, but she probably won't answer again. That girl is always disappearing."

_Ha! Nice touch, Rose._ It seemed I wasn't the only one in need of acting lessons. She was right though, Alice didn't pick up. "So what's Emmett up to tonight?" I asked casually.

"Um…" she said, paying more attention to the road than to me, "I'm not sure. Probably at the gym or something."

"And Jasper?"

She shrugged again, "Probably studying."

"Did you call him?"

"Why would I call him?"

"Because he probably would know where Alice was. Those two are attached at the hip, like you and Emmett are. It's a bit weird that you're not sure what he's up to…" I pondered out loud.

Irritation crept slowly into Rosalie's tone, "I'm not their keeper."

"Did you check Jasper's place?"

"For what?"

"For Alice."

"Oh, yeah, I did."

"So then you _did_ see Jasper."

"What?!"

Choking back a laugh at her easily ignited aggravation, I responded as though nothing was up, "You said he was studying."

"I said he was_ probably_ studying. And no, I didn't see him, he wasn't there."

"Where do you think they could be?"

Rosalie sighed out load, her fingers flexing over the steering wheel as I questioned her relentlessly. Sooner or later, she'd have to crack. "I don't know." She said in a deadly whisper, before reaching over and turning up the radio to a high volume.

Like music would stop me. A thought struck me suddenly… if I couldn't trip her up with questions, then I'd _annoy_ the truth out of her,

Oh this was going to be the best shopping trip ever.

I reach over to the radio dial and flipped through the stations, "You don't mind, do you?"

She shook her head, "No, put it on whatever you want."

I switched it to AM and found the perfect station: It was two men talking extremely fast while commenting on a horse race.

"This is what you want to listen to?" She looked at me with an incredulous expression.

"Yes, I like horses… Oh Silver's in the lead! … Now he's not … he's coming back! … Hi-Ho Silver!" I yelled loudly, bouncing uncharacteristically in my seat and turning up the volume to a deafening roar.

But the horse races lasted about fifteen seconds before Rosalie turned it all the way down. "No way." Her voice like a whip, "Something else. Anything else."

I shrugged nonchalantly and flipped through more radio stations. "Oh this is good!" A country song was blaring through the speakers. I recognized the song as one my Dad played for my Mom to get her to laugh, about a man who loved fishing so much he couldn't stop long enough to keep his wife from leaving him. It was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard._Perfect!_

"You like _this?_"

"Yea! Its a love story, between a man and his fishing … and the woman who almost got in the way. _Well I love her … but I love to fish,_" I sang along obnoxiously with the lyrics, clutching my hand to my heart, pretending to feel the man's pain as Rosalie sat there in utter disbelief, "_But today she met me at the door, said I would have to choose … if I hit that fishin' hole today she'd be packin' all her things and she be gone by noooooon…_" and here came the funniest part of the song, _"Well I'm gonna miss her … yea, when I get hooome…_"

Rose tightened her grip on the steering wheel as I turned up the volume once more. "He chooses fishing over his girl?" She asked, horrified. "That's ridiculous."

I made sure to continue singing completely off key and loudly, masking my laughter. "_I'm sure it will hit me when I walk through that door tooonight. Ya I'm gonna miss her- Oh, lookie there, I've got a biiiiiiite._"

That last line put Rose over the edge, "Oh, will you just find something_ normal_?!" She snapped, turning the sound back down.

"Oh, you didn't like that?" I asked, cocking my head to the side innocently, "Alright then." I turned back to the radio and switched it until I found a song we both recognized. It was a classic rock station, currently playing _Every Rose Has Its Thorn_. "Rose, this one's for you! _Eeeeevery rose has its thorn," _I sang out again, purposely out of key, "_eeeevery night has its dawn…_ Rosalie," I stopped singing and turned to her, suddenly serious.

"Yes Bella." She said shortly, apparently her patience wasn't to be tested now.

"Do_you_ have a thorn?"

"WHAT?!"

"Well the song says _every rose has it's thorn!_ And you're Rose. Haha! Get it?" I said gallingly before I resumed singing, "_eeeeevery cowboy sings his sad, sad song._ Come on, Rose, sing along!"

"No. Thank. You." Her voice was drenched in venom. "How about we stop listening to the radio for a while? I have a headache." She turned off the radio.

"Whatever you say," I said happily, ignoring her aggravation. "So where do you think Alice is?" I immediately fired off another round of questions.

"Oh _jeez!_" Rosalie groaned loudly, throwing her head back in frustration.


	54. Every Rose Has a Thorn pt 2

An hour later we were still shopping, and I had stopped questioning Rosalie, since she was extremely guarded around her words… she wasn't going to slip up any time soon. She obviously wanted to take her time with shopping, so I did everything possible to speed up the trip, getting everything from her list in record time, since I was on a mission to find out the real motive behind our trip.

Now I think she was just picking random stuff just to waste time.

I sighed loudly, "Rosalie, what on earth could you possibly need lamp oil for?" I'd switched from a parade of questions to whining, and it was working; Rosalie was working hard to keep her composure.

"School project." She said shortly.

"Seriously?"

"It's on the list."

"Can I _see _the list?" That's another thing; she wouldn't actually let me _see_ that stupid list of hers.

"In a minute," she said dismissively, "Which one?" She held out a bottle of the orange oil under my nose.

I took a whiff of the one she had in her hand, "Tangerine," I said, recognizing the scent, "It's nice. Get that one and let's go."

She rolled her eyes impatiently, "Yes it's _nice_ but will it get sickening if you're smelling it for a few hours?"

"What?! What kind of school experiment will have you inhaling lantern fuels for hours?"

"It might take a long time to get the project done, and I don't want to get sick from smelling this stuff."

"Then just get the unscented one."

She ignored me and went for an identical bottle with brown liquid in it. "How about this one?"

I shook my head at that one too, "I don't understand, are you putting this in a car engine or something?"

She looked at me like I was mentally challenged, "Yea, because that's what they teach us class… how to run your car on alternative fuels … a college tuition well spent." She mused sarcastically, unable to hold back her laughter.

"Well, you said you were experimenting!" I said defensively, "And you're a mechanical engineering major. I'm just doing the math here."

"You're math is way off. OK, what about this one?" She held a bottle with red liquid and unscrewed the cap.

"Rose, I really don't care, can we go back alrea—," but she thrust the bottle under my nose, "Oh, mm, apple? I like that one."

She smiled. "OK, then apple it is." She screwed the cap back on and I followed her out of the isle.

"Alright, lets go back now." I urged.

"No, I still need … lighter fluid."

I sighed loudly, "Fine." I rushed past her and worked my way around the isles until I found it. "Here," I trust the small can on her, "So, Rose…" I mused aloud while she analyzed the can. "What do you think Emmett is doing right now?"

"For the _millionth_ time, I STILL don't know!" She snapped angrily, marching over to the cashier.

I laughed quietly as she paid for her stuff. "So we're going back to the dorms now, right?" I asked her.

She shook her head, "One more stop."

"Rosa_lieeeee_." I whined, "What else have you got to get?"

"Just. One. More. Thing." We walked out of the store and down the street to a small old jewelry store where Rosalie handed something to the attendant who nodded and went to the back, returning minutes later with a small box. She put the bag in the box and handed it to Rosalie who told me later was a present for her mother she had to have sized.

"Can we go back now?" I whined again.

"What is your hurry?!"

"I'm tired. And Alice is forcing me to try on that thing she's making for her class that she wants me to model. I just want to get that over with."

"Well, she's not back yet so just chill!"

_Gotcha!_

"Not back from where?" I asked innocently.

Rose's eyes widened for a second. "What?" She played for time.

"You said she's not back yet. I thought you said you didn't know where she was?" I hid my triumphant grin.

"Oh … I don't, I mean she's _probably_ not back yet."

But I couldn't keep the grin off my face for much longer, "Back from where?"

"From, uh, whatever she was doing," She said, not meeting my eyes.

"Hmmm… isn't it funny that she and Jasper and Emmett all randomly disappeared at the same time?"

"No. They're all… studying together." She said, obviously flustered.

"I thought you said Emmett was at the gym." I said coolly, crossing my hands over my chest and staring at her.

"Um, he was."

"Then how could he be studying with Jasper and Alice? Especially since you don't know where they are? How could Emmett know where they are?" _I've got her! I've SO got her!_

She fumbled for words as we made our way back to her car. "I don't know. Look, I was just guessing."

I nodded along, "Sure. So when are you expecting Alice to be back?"

"Not until la—, I mean I don't know! WILL YOU STOP WITH THE QUESTIONS?" She slammed the driver's side door shut tightly as I got in.

I was silent for a second, unable to contain my glee, but working hard to keep myself cool. "Alright, Rosalie, one more question and then I stop."

She sighed, "Fine."

"Where's your silk robe?"

That was clearly not what Rosalie was expecting; she dropped her keys and immediately rushed to grab them by her feet, hiding her face from view… but a glimpse of it told me that she was bright red. "I… don't know what you're talking about. Robe? The red terrycloth one? In my bathroom," Her voice was muffled as she was still grasping around for her keys.

I rolled my eyes and waited for her to sit back up, staring at her while staying completely silent, waiting for her to admit what we both knew.

She looked up, taking one look at my face, "What?" She asked innocently.

"Rosalie." I said smoothly, "Where's your _silver silk_ robe."

Her eyes finally met mine, and she sighed in defeat, slumping her shoulders, "Its at Jasper's." She finally admitted.

--

* * *

I walked back into my dorm after saying goodbye to Rosalie. After I had calmed down at my triumph over her, she laughed, finally seeing the funny side of it as I told her how I'd been trying to get it out of her all night. I tried to ask her about what happened with her getting into trouble, but she refused. The deal was that 'nothing changed and League stuff was top secret and I wasn't to acknowledge the fact that I knew about her or anyone else I may suspect'. Her words, not mine.

Now I knew that almost all my friends were in it. _Almost._ Edward, I was positive, wasn't in it at this point. But that didn't matter yet. I'd get him in it when I got in.

_If_ I got in.

Once I kicked off my shoes, I immediately went to throw myself onto my bed, but the glimpse of parchment on my desk stopped me.

My exhaustion took a back seat as I ran over to open the envelope.

_Dear Bella,_

_We are thrilled to see that you have chosen to continue and wish you the best of luck on your final mission. We pray that while you are out there, stumbling through the wayward path, you bear in mind that no man is a failure who has Friends, and he who does in never truly alone. To quote Emerson "The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, not the joy of companionship. It is the Spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone Else believes in you and is willing to trust you with friendship."_

_Commit these words to memory, for there may come a time where they bear a literal Translation._

_To us, you are a dear friend, Bella And we have learned to trust in you. May the same sentiments find you as well. On the pocket watch there are words engraved on the inside: "Where there are friends there is Wealth". This Statement represents the most important idea of our organization. It is true that we value adventure, amusement and tradition, but would any of these be worthwhile without Laudable comrades with whom to share them with?_

_As you are set to begin the final stages of your journey with us we must ask you to think about what true friendship consists of. The answers are certain to help you along your way. The road ahead will be arduous and dark. You will endure much fear, doubt and certain adversity. On this round, clues will not generally be granted to you ahead of time concerning the Details, although we should point out that if you do know the rightful reasoning behind the final challenge and what It is you must prove, It will indisputably make the undertaking that much easier._

_We will, of course, contact you at a later time concerning the specifics of your task, but for your sake we hope that you can be ready at a moment's notice for it is very close at hand._

_Sincerely yours,_

_Ťwilight Łeague_

"_It is not so much our friend's help that helps us, as the confident knowledge that they will help us."_

_- Epicurus, 3__rd__ Century BC_

--

* * *

**OK, so I'm really really happy to report that I have over 200,000 hits on this story! Is that insane or what?! Thanks so much, everyone.**

**I apologize for not being able to respond to everyone's review, or be able to post sooner, midterm projects got the better of me, but I'm on spring break now! Woo hoo!**


	55. Freaking Out

I was freaking out.

You'd think since I knew it was coming, I wouldn't be freaking out as much, but I was. I was a wreck. 

This letter, as all the others, was full of mystery, and surely, hidden clues.

'_On this round, clues will not generally be granted to you ahead of time concerning the details, although we should point out that if you do know the rightful reasoning behind the final challenge and what it is you must prove, it will indisputably make the undertaking that much easier.'_ How was I supposed to know? What could possibly be the answer?

I read over the letter a few times, desperately trying to find any clues whatsoever. Anything, right now, would help ease me even the tiniest bit. 

My eyes followed the elegant calligraphy letters carefully, taking in their meaning. There was definitely something written between the lines. Their words came as a warning to me, of the dangers ahead, but a second look allowed me to see something else, the sadness behind their foreboding. 

Friendship seemed to be the theme behind this letter. Everything pointed towards it. Everything from the actual words to the feelings they implied and right down to the clues themselves. 

For a hopeful second, I let myself believe that maybe it was the answer and it would make my_'undertaking that much easier'_ but I knew that it wasn't. It couldn't be. If it were, they wouldn't have made it as clear as they had. 

Also there were capitalized letters … but it didn't make any sense. At my desk I took out a note pad and wrote down the randomly capitalized words, excluding any that were rightfully done so:

Friends

Else

Translation

And

Statement

Laudable

Details

It

It

I rearranged the words a few times, seeing if I could form a sentence that would make any sense, and when that didn't work I did the same to the first letters of each word.

_F-E-T-A-S-L-D-I-I_

That seemed to be the more appropriate solution, except what the hell were they supposed to spell? Failed sit? Salted ifi? … No, that can't be it. Feista lid? What the heck is a fiesta lid?

It makes no sense.

After a few more minutes I gave up on that and worked on the rest of the letter. At least it was clear that they thought of me as a _'true friend'_ and the thought, for now, eased my nerves.

'_As you are set to begin the final stages of your journey with us we must ask you to think about what true friendship consists of. The answers are certain to help you along your way.'_

True friendship … What does it consist of? Love, comradery? Sharing shoes?

I sighed loudly and went to analyze the letter further, but I heard Alice's voice outside the door and hastily stuffed the letter and my notepad into my desk drawer. 

"Hey, Bella!" She said cheerily as she came in, closing the lid of her cell phone as she entered.

I went over to my bed and sat down, "Hey, Alice. How was your evening?" She was dressed elegantly in a satin silver dress.

"Hazy."

I looked at her confusedly, "Huh?"

She shook her head, and I noticed that her cheerfulness was dwindling, "Never mind. How was your night?"

I smirked at the memory of my time with Rosalie, "Enjoyable." I went to change into my pajamas, mostly to avoid her gaze, not wanting to broadcast the fact that I "outed" another League member.

As Alice and I both changed out of our current outfits and into pajamas, I couldn't help but think back over the letter, and what it would mean if I didn't pass this last test. Would we still be friends? Would she treat me differently? Would all of them treat me differently?

Shouldn't that be what true friendship is about? Sticking with someone even when things don't go as planned …

They'd said they were my 'true friends', but could I trust them enough to believe in that? 

--

* * *

By the next week, my nerves still hadn't calmed. I had gone over each and every letter they had every given me, including the ones from my grandmother and I was certain they were all pointing towards something but what that was, I couldn't figure out. 

Every one of them had mentioned a journey of some kind, so maybe I was going to go on a hike of some kind? Or a treasure hunt? The idea of having to navigate my way through the wilderness and make it back in one piece made my stomach churn. I was turning into a walking billboard for Pepto-bismol.

And this last letter was the epitome of obscurity. What was it they wanted? What did I have to prove? And what was I going to have to do? I worked desperately on the hidden anagram but nothing worked. The best I'd come up with was FIDELAITS, which wasn't even English. 

FIADELITS? SAIL TIDE?

Sail tide?

Oh lord God in heaven would I be sailing? That's just perfect. My mind started racing out of control. What if I had to sail a boat to a far away destination, having only my compass to lead me? I'd be sure to end up on some freaking deserted island, with no food. Then I'd be forced to eat bugs out of desperation because I saw on TV somewhere they are a good source of protein and I could catch rain water in the cups of my bra so I would have freshwater to drink. Then I'd go crazy from the solitude and all the bugs crawling around in my stomach, and then end up talking to my own hand or something. This is so not how I pictured dying…

But sailing didn't make sense; there were no oceans or great lakes around here. Thank God…just woods and a small town.

One thing was certain; I was bringing my Bear-be-gone spray … there's no way I'm going to risk going into the woods or something without it. Of course, with my luck, bears will somehow end up being _attracted_ to it. Watch, not only will I fail the mission, not get into the Twilight League, be alienated by my dearest friends and let down my grandmother, but the icing on the cake will be some lonely bear will smell this stuff from where ever he is, drag me back to his cave and claim me as his mate.

Oh God. I was going to live in a cave.

I folded my hands in front of me. _Please don't let this mission have anything to do with woods. _I prayed for the millionth time. I had been praying so much lately, I was pretty sure God was screening my calls by now._Please don't let it involve bears… and while we're at it, if you could rule out sailboats, that'd be good too._

I shifted in Edward's bed, where I was currently trying to get some sleep but failing miserably. Lately the only thing that could get me to sleep was Edward's comforting embrace. I nestled into his chest once more and closed my eyes, breathing in his heavenly scent. In minutes I was calm again.

But not for long.

When the thoughts of bears, boats and bugs bubbled up for what seemed like the millionth time that night, I groaned silently and got up.

"Bella?" Edward asked sleepily, lifting his head from his pillow and looking at me as I failed to work my way out of his arms without waking him.

"Hey, I'm going to the gym. I can't sleep."

He reached a groggy arm to his bedside table and grabbed his cell phone, checking the time on the screen. "It's 5:30 … what are you doing up? Did you get any sleep at all?" 

I hated how worried he sounded. He'd asked me countless times if something was wrong this week but all I'd been able to reply was some crap about finals, even though they were still weeks away. I hated lying to him. "I slept for a few hours, but I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep." I answered truthfully but his brow furrowed in concern anyway. "I'm fine, I promise. But I feel really tense, so I'm just going to get a workout in."

"The gym doesn't open until 6."

I nodded, "I know, but by the time I change and get over there, it will be."

He sighed and nodded, "Fine. I'll meet you at your room in half an hour."

"Edward," My head cocked to the side as I tried to reason with him, "You should sleep. I'm sorry I keep waking you up—,"

He interrupted me, "Bella, there's no where I'd rather be than with you. I'm not about to leave you when you're clearly not fine. Whatever you need to do to get through whatever you won't tell me about, I'm doing it with you. No buts." He ordered. "Now go get changed. I'll meet you there."

My eyes lingered on his, and I couldn't contain a pleased smile. I leaned in suddenly and kissed him. Our lips worked together for a long time, neither of us wanting it to end. "I love you," I mumbled in between breaths.

"I love you too, Bella," His silky voice whispered back as he smiled. He reached one hand up and tucked a loose strand of hair back behind my ear, after we'd pulled apart, and rested his forehead on mine, "So are you going to tell me what you're worried about, finally?"

"Finals, I already told you."

He chuckled silently, rolling his eyes, "Sure. Because you _always_ go insane over exams when they're weeks away." I opened my mouth to protest but he stopped me, "Don't worry, I'm not going to pry. Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll open up about it eventually," He kissed me cheek, "You always do."

I smiled and kissed him again, "How did I get so lucky as to have you for a boyfriend?"

He shrugged, modestly, "Yea, I am a catch. Maybe you were Gandhi in a past life."

I laughed, quietly so as not to wake a sleeping Emmett in the next bed. "That must be it." We kissed one more time, "I'll meet you downstairs in half an hour."

He smiled. "Sounds good."

I made my way out of his dorm and down to mine, opening the door quietly, trying not to wake Alice but I soon saw that she wasn't there. I guess she'd spent the night at Jasper's again.

But what was there was another letter. There it was, sitting on my desk, as so many of the others had been.

My heart thudded loudly.

Normally, I get excited about letters, but I was dreading this one. I did not feel appropriately prepared for this final task.

I took a deep breath before walking over to the desk and pulling the parchment envelope open. There were two papers in there, attached to one another. I read the first one.

_Dear Bella,_

_The hour is dawning on your final mission. We wish you well._

_There is another parchment paper attached to this letter, containing driving directions to a specific site. On Saturday, the day subsequent to tomorrow, you must use those directions and go to that location. Inside there you will find further instruction._

_This expedition may seem strange and clandestine to you, but fear not. We will not lead you astray. If you follow our instructions fully and carefully, you will arrive at your destination without trouble._

_On this mission you must bring with you the findings of all your previous tasks; your key and the compass and pocket watch. Also, it will be of extreme help to you if you were to wear comfortable footwear and apparel. The weather outside is warm on these days of late, but a light jacket might also come in handy._

_When the clock strikes 5 on Saturday eve, you must then be at the specified location, for it is then that your mission shall begin._

_Good luck,_

_Ťwilight Łeague_

--

Saturday. The day after tomorrow. I was out of time.

Oh God, I think I might throw up.

--

* * *

I looked in the mirror, the following day as I got out of the shower. It was almost dinner time and I was meeting my friends at the dining hall. 

My face was pale, and I had small, bags under my eyes. Oh please, who was I kidding. I looked like a stinking raccoon. And, dear God no— is that a gray hair! 

I pressed my face to the mirror and found the discolored strand, gripping it tightly between my fingers, ready to yank it from my head. Ouch! I analyzed it, realizing too late that it was just the light hitting it in a weird way. Great. Now I'm losing my mind _and_ I have less hair. I'm a balding lunatic. I relaxed a bit however, it wouldn't surprise me if I found a few gray hairs on my head after the night and day I'd had. I couldn't concentrate on anything, I couldn't eat and even Edward's safe arms couldn't get me to sleep. My brain cells were deteriorating rapidly, why not my hair follicles?

There was no way around it; I was terrified.

I towel dried my hair and changed quickly, as Alice also got ready to go.

Was it me, or did Alice seem a lot less cheery than usual?

Of course it wasn't me. She'd been a lot quieter ever since last week, when she had "mysteriously disappeared" along with the other known League members, and I had a sickening feeling that I knew what it was, for I was feeling the same thing, only worse. 

I couldn't work up the nerve to ask her (not that she'd answer me anyway) about whether or not things would change between us if I didn't get in. But the way she was acting lead me to believe that maybe they would … the thought only made me feel sicker.

Maybe it would've been better if I didn't know who was in it. Then maybe I wouldn't be so worried about losing all my friends.

Stupid freaking nosiness. You think I would've learned from a childhood filled with_Curious George_ books, but no. And curiosity worked out so well for the cat too. My hard head apparently doesn't learn valuable life lessons.

"Ready to go?" Alice asked, plastering forced brightness onto her pixie-like face.

Even though I saw through it, I appreciated the effort and mimicked it, "Sure." I grabbed my wallet and headed out the door behind Alice. Together we made out way down to the dining hall in near silence, only speaking random small talk on the way down.

When we got there, I noticed that everyone was already there. And I mean _everyone._

Edward, Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper were seated at one long table that was adjoined to another at which Josh, Logan, Melanie, some of Edward and Emmett's friends from the football team and some other people I'd gotten to know throughout the year sat down, all talking quietly. After we got our trays full of food, we went to sit down with them.

"Hey!" Melanie said happily. "What's up?"

I greeted everyone with a forced smile as I took a seat next to Edward. "Not much." It was clear what was going on, some of the League members had shown up to show support. It was sweet and I was touched.

But I almost wished they hadn't. It just reminded me of what was at stake, what I could lose. 

Suddenly I felt like a condemned woman on death row, getting her last meal. The thought made my stomach queasy and I pushed the food around on my plate, taking small bites throughout dinner time while everyone chatted with each other. 

Was it me, or did some of the conversation seem forced, like they were trying to act normal? Every once in a while, I would catch someone looking at me, but they would look away too quickly for me to be sure. In the split seconds where pretenses were unguardedly let down, I saw the true despondent mood behind the facades. And it shook me.

Before too long, Tanya showed up with two other people and we made room for her. I greeted her happily. I was used to seeing her everyday for practices, but since the season was over, I barely saw her anymore. She gave me a hug and sat down next to me and across from Logan.

"I feel like a never see you anymore, Bella!" She whined jokingly.

I nodded, "I know. It sucks."

Logan smiled, "You're lucky Bella, I'm stuck seeing her all the time." He joked with her, earning him a thrown piece of carrot to the head by Tanya. "Just kidding, she's not that bad."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes at him, but I saw a please smile lingering on her face. Alice, Rosalie and I exchanged knowing glances.

"So how are Captain duties?" I asked her.

She shrugged, "They haven't really started yet." She said in between bites of pasta. "Me and the other captains have to come back early in the fall though, some kind of training thing. I'm not looking forward to being on a virtually empty campus. It'll be eerie."

Emmett cut in, "You won't be. The football team always starts training a full month before school starts."

Jasper nodded in agreement, "Yea, we get our summers cut short, it kind of sucks if you think about it."

Joshua shook his head, "Yea, but all you had were training sessions. The damn summer programs here don't seem bad until you have to sit in on of the non-air conditioned sections in the library." He winced at the memory.

Alice looked up at him, "Ugh! I'm glad I'm not here during the summer."

Melanie nodded, "I didn't find the summer sessions too bad. It was fun wandering around the lawns when they're empty. The campus is so beautiful."

Edward shrugged next to me, "I agree with Mel, it wasn't so bad here last summer. But then again, I didn't have classes yet. And outdoor football training in the heat did have its drawbacks."

Emmett shook his head, "It wasn't so bad for you, little bro, because you were fresh out of high school last summer. You had a longer vacation period than I did, I think."

Alice laughed, "As I recall, you were more excited to leave and get away from one of your ex-girlfriends back home a month earlier than you could've hoped. Lucky for you Meyer's football training started in the summer." Everyone laughed as Edward scowled.

"OK, fine, I did want to get away, but the girl hid in my closet in a whipped cream bikini!" Edward defended himself.

I shook my head laughing, "Poor popular Edward," I joked. The thought of the player-Edward I knew when I'd first arrived at school was hilarious, especially when he was so desperate to get away from one of his many fans that he would be _happy_ about starting school a month early—

Oh my Gosh!

My eyes widened and I dropped my fork as a sudden realization dawned on me.

Edward and Alice didn't start school at the same time …

My heart pounded hard. But the sound of Emmett's booming laughter snapped my concentration back on the present conversation. "You should've _seen_ my mom's face when Edward screamed and she ran into the room to find this girl with nothing but whipped cream and cherries covering her nipples!"

Everyone's laughter roared, even Edward joined in when he thought back on it. I chuckled appreciatively, still only half focused on the conversation. Edward's arm wrapped around me soon, and pulled me closer to him. "Don't worry, she's long gone by now." He said in my ear with a chuckle.

I giggled, "Oh, I'm not worried. But you've got another thing coming if you think you'll be getting that kind of special treatment from me." 

He laughed his signature musical laugh, "That's OK, I'm not that into whipped cream anyway. Chocolate syrup will be just fine with me." Everyone at the table laughed, including me. 

The conversation continued in its light form, and for that I was grateful. My friends had successfully calmed me down, at least for the time being. And my new discovery was floating around in my head, and the more I thought about it, the giddier I got. _Edward was here a month before Alice was_, I thought to myself. He didn't pledge the same time Alice had, he had pledged a month before. It fit. It all fit! All the right people had been around.

_Edward could definitely be in the League!_

I felt like dancing!

… _Until_ …

Another thought struck me like a lightning bolt: If he was in and I failed, what were the chances I wouldn't lose Edward?

--

* * *

Later that night, after I'd changed into my pajamas, I wrapped a shawl around myself and put my shoes back on.

"Where are you going?" Alice asked me from her bed as I opened the door in out dorm.

"Just out for a walk."

Alice sat up in her bed and looked at me curiously, "Are you alright?" I couldn't form a solid answer so I just nodded. "Do you want me to come with you? Its late, you shouldn't be out by yourself."

I shook my head, "I just need to clear my head a little. I'll be back in a little while, I promise."

She looked at me skeptically for a few seconds. "Bella, I know you're nervous… about your _finals_, I'm guessing," she added hastily, "but you should probably try to get some rest. It won't do you any good to worry about it now."

I forced a smile, "Really Alice, I'm OK. I'm really not tired though, maybe some fresh air will help."

She sighed, "OK. But call me if you need anything, I'll be here… _always_." She emphasized the last word, making sure to get the double meaning to her words across.

"Thanks Alice." I said gently before making my way out the door. I went outside, walking around distractedly as I tried to sort out my thoughts.

So far things weren't looking good. There was so much pressure … I could potentially lose all my friends, everyone I'd grown to care dearly for, if I didn't pass this last challenge.

The idea made me cringe.

_And_ _Edward_. I thought with a heavy heart. Alright, I have to give Edward the benefit of a doubt, though. He loved me. I knew he loved me and he wouldn't leave me just because I didn't get into the Twilight League.

But what I knew about the League made me sure that it would inevitably drive a wedge between us if I wasn't to join. Being in the Twilight League becomes a part of your life, a part of who you are. It had been a part of my grandmother, so much that all she'd wished for was for her children to join too. It was even a huge part of Renee's life, although I don't know if she actually knew it. 

And it was definitely a part of Edwards. So far, the only thing that suggested that Edward was not in the League had been the thought that he had started school at the same time Alice had and the League only inducted one person at a time. And Alice was in, meaning Edward couldn't be. Except now I knew that Edward had been here for one month during the summer, giving him plenty of time to have pledged and been inducted. It all made sense; his family was in it, he had all the right connections, he had all the right traits, he was never around when letters would come and always disappeared at the same times Alice did randomly… it all fit.

Edward was in the League.

And if I didn't get it, then it would be a major part of his life that I wouldn't get to share … that I would be excluded from.

I don't know where I was walking to, but somehow, I ended up at the Cathedral building. On this spring night, the air was cool and the sky was slightly cloudy. I looked up at the brilliant architecture of what had become one of my favorite places in the world, but even its loveliness failed to ease me tonight… now it just seemed overly large and intimidating, like the road that lay ahead of me. The gothic designs carved into the ancient stone of the building, usually so inspiring had a somber ambiance about it now. 

I sat on one of the stone benches outside of the building, bending over with my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands. I had to calm down. I had to think rationally. It wasn't over yet. I could still pass … and even if I didn't, I had to give my friends more credit. Edward especially deserved more. Even if I couldn't be part of their world, they wouldn't cast me out of their lives.

Right?

--

* * *

**Sorry for the wait, but you know how much of a perfectionist I am. First chapter of the last task will be put up tonight (And yes, the first chapter of it. I don't know how many more to it, I think all in all its at least 3 chapters long, probably not more than that.) And that'll pretty much be the end of this story, I think. Must give a big thanks to the one who helped make this chapter a lot cooler than it originally was, you know who you are. **

**And thanks to everyone for being so patient, it means so much to me that you actually like this story, its been so awesome writing it and the feedback really just fuels me to go on. Thank you a zillion and one times. You guys rock :) **


	56. The Beginning of the End

**Here it is. You ready?**

**Only the plot belongs to me, the characters belong to Stephenie Meyer  
**

* * *

An hour.

My stomach felt heavy, like I'd eaten a barrel full of cement. It was time to go.

Everyone I knew had been gone all day, off to God knows where, most likely awaiting the outcome of my task today. I'd spent the entire day worrying and preparing for any type of occasion. My messenger bag was stocked with a flashlight, batteries, mace, that bear spray stuff, the compass/pocket watch and key. I'd even thrown in an extra pair of socks, a scarf and other stuff, just to be on the safe side.

Also, in the messenger bag was each and every letter they had ever given me, bound together by paper clips and folded neatly into a small plastic folder, in case their clues might help me later. Although, after reading over them so many times, I almost had them all memorized.

They'd said I needed comfortable footwear and apparel, so I complied with a pair of stretch jeans and a fitted black v-neck t-shirt over a gray camisole and my sneakers. Finally, after checking and rechecking that I had everything I needed, I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and made my way out of the dorms.

Although the weather was warm, the campus seemed to have less people out and on the lawns than normal. I suppose it had to do with the grayish clouds set directly above us, and though I knew it wouldn't rain, it still didn't ease my current state of mind. The campus was an eerily silent today; even the wind didn't blow… as though Mother Nature herself was holding her breath in anticipation of my mission. Her blue skies were clouded over, blocking the sunlight, making it appear as though her eyes were closed in a silent prayer for my deliverance.

I made my way to my car and placed the directions within grasp, even though I had memorized them already. Taking a deep breath, I put the SUV into drive and made my way out of campus, following their directions exactly.

The drive seemed to take forever, winding in and around secluded roads, further north, and beyond the town adjacent to the University. The number of trees began to grow, and though I didn't see any large bodies of water around, making it clear that I wasn't going to be sailing, my heart did not get any comfort.

I had a sickening feeling that I was, in fact, going into the woods.

About half an hour later, I was arriving at the final turns they had specified on the directions. I was on a small, seemingly deserted road, with a thick forest of trees on either side. The directions told me to carefully look for a small off road to my left, but around here there didn't seem to be any.

Then I spotted an opening in the trees, and a tiny dirt road that I wouldn't have noticed had I not been looking for it. I made the turn and went up the dirt road, and for about half a mile, I saw nothing, until finally, I came to a ominously tall, very old looking wrought iron gate. 

The first thing that came to mind when I saw it was that I should immediately turn around.

This thing looked like something straight out of the Addams Family movie. It was very tall, ancient, and menacingly sturdy looking. On the other side, I could just make out more of the winding dirt road and more bloody trees. Where the heck was I?

I waited in my vehicle, looking at the clock in the car. It was 4:45. I had fifteen minutes to get to this final location, but I saw no one around and no electronic equipment for me to talk in to or somehow gain access. Was I just supposed to wait here?

The instructions on the letter had said _'Inside there you will find further instruction'_ … so I had to get in.

Reluctantly, I exited my car and walked up to the gate. At about ten feet tall, it was even more frightening up close. I studied the design, looking for some kind of latch, but it was completely locked. And there would be no climbing over it, this thing was a menace. I looked closer, inspecting it when I saw a tiny hole in the front and center of it.

A tiny, old brass looking key hole.

Immediately I ran back into the car, into my messenger bag and grabbed the brass key I'd gotten on the first task. Crossing my fingers, I ran back to the front of the gate, jammed the key into the hole and turned.

There was a very loud metal _clunk_ noise and then the gate opened for me, both sides of it opening inward, creaking the entire way as it allowed for enough room for me and my car.

With a sudden thrill of relief, I ran back into my car and drove up, but the Emily Post part of my brain made me stop after I'd gotten in far enough. I got out, closing the gate back up again. It's rude to just waltz onto someone's property and leave the door open, is it not? Then I drove my car up the windy road, going up into the depths of this unknown path.

Finally, the trees cleared out some, and within them, I made out a very large, ancient looking Victorian style home. _Talk about the Addams Family…_ I thought to myself as I drove up to it, following the dirt road to its end. The house was quite large, but it was very old and by the looks of it, it wasn't used much. The old red brick covering the entirety of the house was eerily darkened by time, adding to the haunting atmosphere of the site and the dense forest surrounding it.

I checked the clock once more before exiting my car; it was now 4:55. I had five minutes to spare, knowing that in there began the mission.

_They're probably waiting for me_, I thought, but as I looked around, I saw no other cars parked in front of the house. Nothing. The house itself looked abandoned and empty.

I grabbed my messenger bag with everything in it, my red, light hoodie that I'd brought, since they said I might need a jacket and made my way up the rickety wooden steps of the porch and up to the large, old, thick wooden front door. There was no doorbell, no knocker, just a pair of thick wood double doors with a brass handle and key hole. I went to look through the windows and could see nothing, they were covered on the inside by something, blocking out any view of the inside.

The doors were locked, so once again, I tried the brass key they had given me, thrusting it into the hole and turning it. Once again, the key worked for me, unlocking the doors. They were very heavy and I had to push hard against them to go inside. 

And once I did, I wanted to _run_! As far away and as fast as I could.

The inside was completely dark, which wasn't surprising since long, dark, thick velvety fabric panels were covering each and every window. The walls on the inside were faint beige with old fashioned style paneling on the inside, which must have at one time been very beautiful, but now, it just added to the fear-provoking look of the dark interior. There was much furniture scattered around the room, but I could see none of it, for everything in sight was covered in ghostly white sheets. 

_Bang!_

The doors slammed back shut behind me, leaving me in the pitch black foyer. My heart pounded loudly as I reached a trembling hand into my messenger bag, feeling around for the flashlight. My fingers closed around it and I immediately turned it on. 

"Hello?" my voice came out as a hoarse whisper. I cleared my throat and tried again, "Hello? Is anyone here?" I couldn't stop my voice from trembling, for I was incredibly frightened, in a dark abandoned house, alone, in the middle of nowhere. I walked carefully through the foyer and into what seemed like a sitting room, from the shapes the covered furniture made. I recognized the outline of a grand piano in the corner, covered in a large white sheet. On the other side I saw a thin staircase with a once-elegant old railing. 

Knowing in my gut that it was a bad idea, I headed up the stairs.

At the top of the steps there was more darkness. My breathing was coming out in frightened shallow spurts as I pointed the flashlight around, walking down a very thin hallway. Pointing the flashlight up higher, I made out the shapes of identical picture frames, all in a row and side by side, with maybe two inches in between each. They continued all the way down the long hallway. I brought the flashlight up to one of them, trying to see what it was a picture of and I gasped, bringing my hands to cover my mouth and dropping my flashlight. I heard it roll away but I was too transfixed to do anything about it.

In front of me were dozens of black and white photographs all in a row of seemingly the same thing: a portrait of a cloaked head; in the front, where the face should be, was just a black hole of nothingness. Each was holding a single long lit candle.

Breathing hard, I ran towards the light of my flashlight which I spotted somewhere on the ground. I picked it up and pointed it to each of the portraits… they were all the same. _What the hell?_ I thought. This was too frightening. My heart was racing now, this was definitely too weird.

I scrambled back towards the stairs, half my mind intent on forgetting this entire thing when I heard a loud, definite _creeeeeaaak._

The light from the flashlight shook on the floor as my trembling hands held onto it.

"Hello?" I said again, my voice coming out a few octaves higher than it should, "Is anyone here?"

Another creak. The sound of someone taking a slow, deliberate step on these very old wooden floors.

_Creeeaaaak_ … the sound was coming closer, but I couldn't tell from which direction it was coming. I turned around pointing my flashlight ahead of me, but far ahead I just saw a closed door. Were they in there? "Hello?" I walked towards the door, my footsteps quickening as I neared it.

_Creeeaaak_.

I snapped around to the opposite direction, hearing it come from somewhere beside me, somewhere on the other side of the walls in this claustrophobically small hallway. Or maybe it came from on top of me? The only other sound was the fast thumping of my heart as it frantically beat loudly in my chest. Once more I heard the creaking and then, simultaneously, the opening of the door behind me. 

I spun around once more, pointing the flashlight, and screamed.

There, standing in front of me was the real version of the photographs on the walls; a member, undoubtedly, cloaked in the dark silvery robe, holding a light in his hands. Though, upon closer inspection, it was a lantern, not a single long candle.

The hooded figure spoke, an impossibly deep voice coming through the place where his hidden head was. "Follow me please." 

He strode past me, holding the old fashioned oil lantern in front of him, illumination the hallway with a faint yellow glow, much more useful than my flashlight. Still scared out of my wit, I silently followed him through the hallway and around the corner, up another flight of rickety wooden stairs. At the top was a door which he opened and held out for me to enter through.

Inside was the attic of the house, with light gray wallpapered walls, black trimmings everywhere and a large circular window that was not covered. There were two other hooded Twilight League members inside, each standing beside a small, black velvet covered table with a few instruments on it and a lit candelabra.

"Good evening, Bella," they said simultaneously in deep, altered voices.

"Hello," I spoke to them, my voice returning to its normal tone, no longer the high pitched, frightened squeak it was earlier. 

The cloaked member behind me closed the door behind him and walked past me to stand in front of the other two. "Bella. We meet again." I nodded briefly, wondering if this was the final mission. Where they simply going to talk to me? "Do you know what we're looking for?"

I sighed. "I have been through every letter backwards and forwards," I explained to him, my eyes on the ground, "But I can't seem to understand what it is specifically."

The figure in the middle spoke again, "I see."

"Am I too late?" voicing my worst fear.

All three of them shook their heads, "No. Worry not, not many figure it out ahead of time."

I was confused. "Ahead of time? Isn't this the final mission?"

He spoke again, his deep voice grave, "Not quite."

I panicked.

"Your mission has yet to begin." He explained. "But before we get into the specifics, we must ask you a question."

"Sure. What is it?"

He took a breath, "Long ago we mentioned to you that this journey would change you, and that you may have to sacrifice something in order to continue. Have you taken notice of any chances within yourself or of any sacrifices?"

The question struck me as odd … I didn't understand the meaning behind it, but as I thought back about it, I couldn't say I had really changed at all. I was still me. "No … I don't think so. I haven't lost anything."

The three of them gave short, curt nods. "Hmm." Was all the middle figure said before he turned back to get something from the table behind him.

He turned around, holding a compass identical to mine in his hands, only it was very visibly older than mine. "This was the original," he said, "It belonged to one of the founders of our group. It still ticks, the pocket watch side of it, although it barely stays in tact at this stage in its long-standing existence." He took a step closer towards me, "You could say that it embodies our organizations values; old, antiquated, yet valid and strong." He kept coming towards me until he was about two feet away, "You have already proven something to us, Bella, something of great importance that we would not have let you progress to this stage without."

I thought back towards my encounters with them curiously, "What is that?"

He didn't answer me. Instead, to my horror, he looked down at the pocket watch and threw it up high in the air, as though it were meaningless. 

I reacted immediately, dropping everything in my hands and grabbing for it. The ancient silver circular figure seemed to float through the air in slow motion, as I reached my hands to cup it.

When it made contact with my skin, I finally let out the breath I'd been holding in. "Are you crazy! You _just told me_ how valuable this was."

"Exactly," I heard a smile in his voice, "You just proved it again."

I held the old compass/pocket watch in my hands, running my fingers slowly around the edges, trying to figure out what the heck I just did. What did I prove? That I have reflexes? "I don't understand." I said simply.

He reached a cloaked hand out for it and I handed it back to him. "Don't worry, you will by the end of your mission. Hopefully." _And if I don't figure it out?_ "Now, it is almost time for you to begin your mission. Are you ready?"

_No!_ I thought desperately, but my mouth said something else, "Yes."

"Good. Your items, please." He said, holding out his hand again.

I looked down at my bag with wide eyes. "Excuse me?"

One of the figures next to him spoke. "We have armed you with almost everything you will need for this task already, the rest we will give to you momentarily. However, you may only take with you want we have equipped you with."

Reluctantly, I handed over my messenger bag. The cloaked guy on the left took it and began going through it while the one on the right continued to speak. "Do you have anything else on you? Cell phone, wallets, anything?" Incredulously, I reached into my pocket and took out my car keys, cell phone and wallet and handed them over. "Thank you."

The cloaked guy on the left let out a deep rumble of a chuckle, and he pulled out my extra pair of socks. "Socks?" He asked simply.

I turned bright red, "I wanted to be prepared for anything. You had me thinking I was going sailing." 

All three of them laughed, impossibly deep sounding laughs. I wonder how I had not realized they had altered their voices earlier; no one's voice was naturally that deep. "Sorry, Bella, but no sailboats will be involved."

"Don't apologize, that's a good thing," I said with a shrug, but their laughter died immediately. I looked to each of their faceless forms in turn, "Isn't it?"

The middle one cleared his throat, "I'm sorry, but we can answer no questions. Instead, we must give you this," He pulled out a parchment envelope.

My stomach was filled with butterflies again as I took it from him and opened it. There was a letter and another smaller parchment piece in there, but I went for the letter first. 

_Dear Bella,_

_Your last mission shall begin within moments of your reading of this letter. The task is simple; find an object and deliver it to us, safe and in its original splendor, without sign of the difficulties of your journey ahead._

_Here is your first set of directions:_

_Upon the opening in the woods, 'tween twin posts of carved dark stone, a path you'll find. Continue it you may, though to further instruction it will lead you not._

_Though dark, the road less traveled will prove most efficient on this timed quest. Man's made trail will take you North West, but keep straight North through rougher pastures and find, you will, the original meeting place. There, within the logs another letter awaits you._

_The road ahead is treacherous, Bella, so we offer you one last chance to quit now, before you begin the hunt._

_Good luck in whatever you choose,_

_Ťwilight Łeague_

_--_

I looked up to them once I'd finished reading it, my heart thumping rapidly once more. "What _exactly_ am I doing?"

The cloaked man on the left spoke, "A scavenger hunt of sorts." He spoke grimly. He gestured to the window and walked towards it, beckoning me to follow. "Out there."

I looked out the window and my heart dropped into my stomach. Out of the large circular window was a perfect view of the dark, dense, thick woods behind the house. 

"Bella," spoke the tall one with the deepest voice. "As promised in the letter, you have one more chance to quit. Knowing what it is that you have to do, do you wish to continue?"

I closed my eyes tightly, thinking in my head about all the reasons I was doing this… My mother, my grandmother … that was the reason I had began, but not the entire reason I was continuing. Now I was fighting for the life I'd come to have in the time I began here. This was a part of me now, a part of my family, a legacy, and I was going to be a part of it… or die trying. "Yes." I answered.

They all nodded. "You will need everything we have given you so far," said one of the members handing me the key that was in my bag and holding onto the compass/pocket watch that they had also taken out of my bag. He held the long chain attached to it in his hands. "Night time is approaching and the air will be cool." One of the others moved towards my red hoodie and handed it to me. "Put this on. You'll need it." 

I put it on robotically. My mind wasn't really registering my actions anymore… I was scared into autopilot.

"This will be your main tool," He said, holding onto the compass, "You will need to keep a close eye on it." He stepped forward and held the chain out, placing it around my neck. It felt heavy, as was the decision to continue. "You will have until midnight, Bella, to complete the mission."

"Midnight?" I squeaked out, my voice trembling, "I'm going to be out in the woods alone until midnight … in the dark."

They nodded sternly, quietly … grievously.

I nodded. "Alright." My hands clenched into fists at my side … I couldn't psyche myself out of this now, I was too close. I can do this. All my friends had done this, my grandmother had done this … I could do it, too.

The tall on in the middle went back over the black velvet covered table and picked up an oil lantern identical to the one he was using earlier. He took the red bottle next to it and filled the bottom of it. When he opened the bottle, the scent drifted over towards me; apple.

I thought back to my shopping trip with Rose and smiled slightly, in spite of my fright._ School project, huh?_

The League member lit the lantern and handed it to me. "You are fully prepared now. Remember to bring back the item in the best shape possible. And don't forget, we wouldn't have obliged you to do more than we believe you capable of. You've already proven something immensely important to us. Figure out what it is and reciprocate it, Bella. That's really the most important thing." He spoke slowly and seriously, emphasizing each word, trying to get across the importance of their meaning. 

"Good luck." All three of them said simultaneously. Then they walked together past me, to the window and stared out of it, facing away from me. 

I knew I was dismissed. I stuffed the letter and the unread piece of parchment attached to it with the torn off bottom into my back pocket and left.

Quickly, I made my way out of the dark house, holding the lantern in front of me. Once outside, I saw the sun was quickly setting while a slight mist settled onto the ground. At the back of the house, where the woods began, I saw the beginnings of a trail, right in between two thin, gray, carved stone posts.

With one final look back at the house, I sighed. In the circular window at the top I saw the three of them, faceless and motionless, staring down at me as I began my quest. I looked back at them for a minute, wavering back and forth between my decision. _Was I really going to do this?_

But without wasting another minute of ever decreasing daylight, I turned back around to the start of the trail. 

_Yes, I am._

--

* * *


	57. Original Meeting Ground

The clouds from earlier were still in the darkening sky, except now it was different; there was an sinister mist lingering within the depths of the dense forest, making it difficult to see too far ahead of me

The clouds from earlier were still in the darkening sky, except now it was different; there was an sinister mist lingering within the depths of the dense forest, making it difficult to see too far ahead of me. As I walked the path, I expected to hear the normal sounds of forest life; animals, wind … something. But there was nothing.

I was alone.

Even though the light only provided a faint, dull glow within the endless trees, the sun was technically still setting so even the crickets hadn't begun their songs for the night. The silence was almost unbearable.

The path that I had begun back at the house, over half an hour ago, lead me deep into the darkening woods and I didn't dare look back, for the temptation of retreating would be too great. Instead I kept the lantern ahead of me as I continued, my eyes like a pendulum swinging back and forth between the thin trail and the compass that hung by the silver chain around my neck. I walked as quickly as I could without tripping, wanting nothing more than to reach the end of this frightful mission.

_No bears. _I repeated in my head, _Please, just no bears. I can deal with the darkness, but bears are another story._

"OK, Bella." I whispered out loud to myself, more to fill the deafeningly eerie silence than anything else. "If all your friends and your grandmother could do this, then so can you… no one in the Twilight League has been eaten by bears … that you know of."

_Oh, God._

Finally, about fifteen minutes later, the compass started to point to a different direction than the path was currently heading. I held up the lantern, looking ahead. In front of me was a tight collection of trees and other greenery… by now the glow from the sky was a dim blue haze above me, not letting me see much.

_You can do this,_ I thought to myself, _just take a deep breath and go into the trees._

I did just that, gathering every molecule of inner strength I could before diverting from the path and going north, into the deep, seemingly uncharted woods.

Walking this way proved to be incredibly difficult and time consuming, for I had to work around tall trees, and over fallen ones, occasionally tripping and scraping myself on rogue branches or rocks.

_Where is this place?_ I thought exasperatedly about another half hour later as I continued north, as the directions told me. _It has to come into view soon, right? I mean— Ow!_

Stupid uneven forest floor. "Aren't tree roots supposed to stay underground?!" I whispered angrily out loud again. _Oh great, now I'm yelling at a tree… is insanity what I'm supposed to prove to get into the League? If so, I'm freaking golden._

The forest soon turned completely black, as the sun finally left the sky completely… I could hear crickets chirping, at least, but it didn't matter, I was still frightened out of my wit. I didn't seem to be getting anywhere, just further into the gloomy, misty woods. And was it me or were the trees getting bigger? They seemed older; large and thick, stretching to impossible heights.

_Where am I? Narnia?_

Just when I was about to give up hope, a clearing among the trees ahead of me came into view. With a sudden longing, my pace quickened, aching to finally reach the specified destination; a reassuring thought meaning I wasn't actually lost alone in the woods.

There, within the clearing, was a dark, empty campfire ground, with a pit in the center, complete with unused fire logs and large, flat rocks placed all around it for seating. There was no grass or anything around it, just dirt, and the trees around it were huge, bigger than most I had seen in the woods thus far, many of them perfectly surrounding the site.

One thing was clear: this place was _old._ And although there was definitely a frightening quality about it, it seemed strangely significant … well kept and oddly stirring.

The words from the letter reverberated in my mind; _'The original meeting place…'_

Could this really be…? _No freaking_ _way!_

With the lantern firmly attached to my hand, I tread the site carefully, taking notice of the large rocks used for seating; each had the Twilight League symbol carved in front of it, facing the fire pit.

_This place couldn't really be…_

The hike to this spot had left me breathless so in an effort to catch my breath, I sat down on one of the rocks. Despite the engulfing darkness in the forest surrounding me, my fear subsided as I looked around the site I was in. There was something so … nostalgic; I suppose is one word that comes to mind. Then came the very clear memory of my very first mission … the letter they'd given me… the history of the Twilight League.

I rested for a brief moment, wishing I'd brought a water bottle with me or something, when I noticed something within the wood logs in the pit. The light beige parchment made a very clear contrast with the dark wood fire logs.

With a sense of relieving anticipation, I reached in and grabbed the envelope, pulling out a letter, and dropping another small torn piece of paper onto the ground as it came out. Picking it up immediately, I read that one first.

_All man has me, in some context or other._

_Place me correctly and flourish,_

_I shall keep you all together._

_Without me, you will surely perish._

A riddle? Great. Usually I was excited to figure out their perplexing little brainteasers but I was alone in the middle of a dark forest for crying out loud. Would it kill them to just come right out and say it?!

I didn't waste time on it now; instead I opened up the letter and read:

_Dear Bella,_

_Does this campfire meeting place ring any bells? It should._

_At your very first task with us, you found a key and a letter. The letter explained to you of our origins. In case you need a refresher, we will repeat the story now for you. _

_Many years ago, around the time the school was first founded, a young group of students were caught in the woods behind the school, surrounding a fire and telling stories. This might not seem to be a greatly offensive activity, however, you must remember that those were strict times where young men and women were forbidden from even looking at each other without proper chaperones. And the idea of sneaking out in the middle of the night and frolicking in the woods was punishable by expulsion from the institution and a disagreeable reputation in high society._

_Although she was a respected educator, Stephenie Meyer also believed that life was too short to be spent upholding the pretentious standards set upon by society. It was with this reasoning that she informed the proper authorities that she had given these youngsters permission to gather in the late hour for the purpose of completing a special assignment, a blatant lie that no one but Mrs. Meyer, her husband and those few young students knew the truth of. _

_Those young students became the first ever members of the Twilight League._

_You now stand in the original meeting place of our organization, where it all began. Take a look around, for it is so rarely used these days. Can you feel its history? All of our members have been in the exact spot you are asking themselves the same questions you are undoubtedly asking yourself now. Have you figured out what we ask of you, or are you Stumped? If that is the case, worry not; use your mind as a mental Axe and go beneath its surface where useful things surely lie. Use your wit, Bella, to quench the thirsty bewilderment and think; what matters most among alliances?_

What? … Besides just being confusing, their words made me even thirstier. Ignoring my profound incomprehension, I held the lantern up closer to it and continued to read:

_Now, on you must continue, not North but North East, until you find a ladder-like tree. It shall be mostly barren, until the higher branches and the only of its kind around. Once you have discovered it, continue then no longer North East but East._

_All of nature is beautiful in its own way, but your next clue lies in a particularly marvelous place. We need not explain any more, once you reach it, you'll know you have arrived. In there you must retrieve a symbol— that by which any other name would smell as sweet. _

_The symbols will be numerous: one of innocence, one of love and one of majesty, but you may ignore those. The one you must bring back for us is the most beautiful one of Friendship. Find among its kind the one with unmatched brilliance and deliver it to us in its original splendor. _

_Do not forget to protect it from the perils of your journey._

_Time for you is dwindling and the forest is not always safe. The only thing we can offer that will physically help you is that which you must prove you have for us. Figure this out, you must at any cost, in order to gain membership. The sooner you find it, the easier we believe your mission will be._

_Be safe,_

_Ťwilight Łeague_

I sat back down one of the rocks to try to figure out the meanings of the letter. OK, so I had to follow the compass in a northeast direction until I found a _'ladder like tree'_. Their words regarding that were full of something … there was definitely more to that than they were plainly expressing. Once I got there, I'd have to look around.

'_That by which any other name would smell as sweet'_ definitely meant a rose. Would I find a rose garden? I found the idea almost laughable that there could be a _'marvelous'_ rose garden in these frightful woods.

The last paragraph had scared me though. It's not like I didn't already know that the woods weren't safe, especially not for a klutz like me, but somehow having _them_ admit to it made it even more frightening.

I looked around me at the darkness and felt sick to my stomach. Looking down at the lantern I realized that a small portion of the oil from it was already gone. My heart thudded … it _has_ to last until I reach the end, doesn't it?! They wouldn't have me out in the total darkness by myself, would they? The idea terrified me. _I'd better figure out what the hell they're looking for. Fast._ The clues were all with me, I just had to put them together. I pulled out the letter they'd given me at the house, the other one I now had with me, and reread them both.

Nothing.

Then I remembered the smaller parchment paper I had jammed in my pocket that came with it. My fingers dug into my pocket and fished it out. It was another riddle, but as I held it up, I realized that the bottom part was torn off. Grabbing the other riddle I'd found here at the campfire site, I pulled it directly under the first one.

They fit! It's like they were once part of the same paper and torn apart. I read them both together:

_You are all the same_

_Tied by similar experiences._

_I bind you all further,_

_Giving strength to your alliances_

_All man has me, in some context or the next._

_Place me correctly and flourish,_

_I shall keep you all together._

_Without me, you will surely perish._

The bottom of the last piece was ripped too, so there would definitely be more along the way. I just had to find them.

Not being able to figure the clues out just yet, I tucked the letter and the little square paper away into my pocket, and as I did I noticed that in the distance there was a trail. Was it the same one I had started on? I thought it odd that they didn't give me the easier route. Surely, they must've had their reasons, though.

Right?

_Of course they do, Bella. Stop over thinking things… we can't afford any gray hairs yet._ But I still couldn't take a step into the northeast direction as they instructed. If the path lead here, then it must lead to the other places, only it would probably take longer … and I was _terrified_ of hiking through the dark forest without a trail … it was bad enough _with_ one.

I can't do it … I just _can't._ They don't know what they ask of me, it's too much. It's not possible, I'll get hurt!

_I'm following the trail_, I thought, picking up the lantern and setting on my way. _If I run the whole way, I can make up the time._ Honestly, it would probably be even _faster_ considering how much I tripped in the woods.

So I ran on the path, starting off at a jog and quickly progressing to a faster run, fueled by my fear of the darkness surrounding me. Soccer training had stopped so I hadn't been running as often as I would've liked, but still, it came back to me easily.

Except, after twenty minutes of running later, I had to stop, having arrived at a fork in the path. _Damn._ I thought. _Well the note said east, so…_ East I went, starting up the jogging again, ignoring the panting, my aching lungs and my dry mouth. I could deal with this, it can't be that far now.

In the distance though, through the illumination caused by the lantern, I saw a moving figure.

I froze, holding the light directly in front of me to see what it was. I stopped breathing, ignoring the burning in my lungs, while I tried to figure out what was ahead of me. The figure moved … on four legs.

It was a deer. A female, by the looks of it. She was frozen too, staring at me. When I relaxed and took a step forward, she ran away.

_Ha! To think that _I'm_ something to be afraid of in these woods …_ the idea was laughable. Deciding to slow down to a brisk walk, I went forward, passing the spot where I'd seen the deer, and hearing nothing.

Until a definite _snap_ echoed from somewhere around me.

Once again, my body froze, but relaxed when I realized it was probably the same deer. Walking forward, the silence continued. Until it happened again.

_Snap._

This time it was stepping towards the direction I was headed in. With my heart pounding loudly in my chest, I moved to take a few more steps.

Then the sound changed, no longer the snapping of twigs, but the deep, haunting _clump_ of hooves on the forest floor …

Hooves belonging to something a hell of a lot bigger than that deer.

_It's just your imagination running away with you, Bella._ I said to myself, still unable to bring my body to move again. As soon as I did, though, I moved ahead, slower and still holding my breath.

_Clump, clump, clump, clump._

Dimly aware of the heavy trees around me, I turned with a trembling body towards the sound. I couldn't see anything, though … whatever it was was too deep into the darkness for me to see. _Please don't be a bear, please don't be a bear, please don't be a bear._

I moved a shaking lantern around trying to see what was going on. _I could run_, I thought. But what were the odds I wouldn't be chased?

That's when another clear sound reached my ears… it was an exhale, but not that of a human, more like something a horse would do: a deep, deliberate blowing out of air through large nostrils. But it wasn't a horse … no, a horse wouldn't make those kinds of hoof sounds.

My hand was shaking the lantern profusely now. Slowly, I stepped towards the nearest, branchy tree, in the opposite direction of the noises.

_Clump._

_Clump._ It was coming closer.

And then I saw it. A large, ill-omened, shadowy outline.

_Definitely not a horse!_

It blow out air through its nose again, angrily, stomping a threatening hoof repeatedly on the ground in my direction; it was ready to charge!

Dropping the lantern I ran onto the nearest tree and began to climb, digging my sneakers into whatever part I could as I reach towards the branches.

_Clump, clump, clump, clump, clump..._ they came faster and closer now… it was running full speed towards me.

Instinct took over as I jumped higher into the tree and onto the highest branch I could grab, getting a good grip and hoisting my legs up over it— but not before something hard crashed into my calf, something oddly shaped and rock hard.

I screamed in agony, terrified tears blurring my eyes as I tried to lift my legs up higher. Pulling my body up with my arms, I scrambled onto the branch and immediately looked for a higher one to climb on to, trying to escape whatever it was, not being able to bring myself to look at my attacker.

But the sounds I heard beneath me were terrifying.

_Boom! _Something was furiously ramming into the tree, over and over again. Something hard! The thick heavy tree stayed in place, but I could feel the tremors reverberating through it from the ongoing attack.

Crying from the pain in my leg and the fear in my heart, I stood again, using my upper body to lift me onto a higher, safer branch. _Boom! Boom!_

The branch above this one was too high for me. I was trapped.

Crying freely now from fright and pain, I stood on the branch I was on, leaning on the thick trunk of the tree for support as the thing slammed into the tree again and again. Looking down, I saw the most horrifying site.

A giant buck, with large menacing antlers was furiously pounding into the tree, over and over again, desperately trying, it seemed, to get me out of it.

Shaking frantically, and not just from the buck's enraged charges on the tree, I curled up on the branch, sitting with my knees pressed tightly to my chest, sobbing loudly, in the darkness of the forest, clutching onto my legs and waiting for the buck's tirade to end.

Not knowing if it ever would.

Continuously the buck thrashed against the tree, until I thought it was definitely going to fall over. The hard antlers made terrifying crash noises against the hard tree, much more alarming than the sound they'd made against my leg. I couldn't stop crying, my whole body was in shock and yet trembling at the same time. I was unable to move and yet I couldn't stop moving. Even if I could move on my own will, what could I do?

The buck stepped back, walking back until I thought it was retreating, giving up on me. My sobbing stopped as I hoped.

But in the distance, I saw it coming … running at full speed towards the tree. I spun and grasped the trunk of the tree again, wrapping my arms around it as best I could to hold on.

_BOOM!_

The buck's antlers once again collided with the tree, over and over and over again once more.

_This is it._ I thought as another wave of desperate wails took over me once more. Not only was I not going to get into the Twilight League, but I was going to die. Out here, all alone in the dark, I was going to die. _So much for worthy…_ I thought back to the letters from my grandmother and sobbed even harder. I was going to die without ever getting the chance to make her proud. Without continuing her legacy. Without fulfilling Renee's dreams for me. Without saying goodbye to Edward.

_So much for brave_…it seemed cruel for the end to come to me this way. I'd been too afraid to follow the given instructions and I'd come to find even greater danger.

_Stop it, Bella, _I scolded myself, _the thing can't get up here … this tree can handle the onslaught._ I repeated the words in my head, trying unsuccessfully to block out the noise from the buck.

'_It's all about the journey'_ I remembered Sabrina's words. There is danger everywhere, really, I was stupid to have thought otherwise. I should've followed their directions. As the buck continued to lash at the tree, I thought back, letting silent tears flow without restraint, feeling so pathetic. Even if I didn't die, by the time someone found me the deadline would've been long over…

I could lose my friends and my only connection to my family … just because I was too much of a sissy to follow instructions.

_I should've done so many things different…_ and the thought made me sick. I don't want regrets.

I don't want regrets.

_And I can't just sit here and do nothing either._

With more bravery than I'd ever felt before, I looked around, trying to find something. Something to throw, some way to escape, _anything._ If I were to die fighting, that would be one thing, but I can't just _sit_ here doing nothing. I have to at least try.

Sabrina would've tried.

As the buck's thrashing continued bellow me, a constant deafening mixtures of crashing and snarling, the downside of my plan hit me like a ton of bricks. _What the hell could I do?_ _I'm not freaking Tarzan!_

As I scanned the tree for anything useful, I noticed the light of the lantern I'd dropped in the distance. It had rolled away, but I could see its glow in the distance. Not that it would help me out if it were near me.

But something in the light caught my eye. Another large figure loomed, inching closer towards the raging buck … _Oh, please don't let it be another one of these_… I prayed.

And it wasn't. Into the light I saw the thick black body of a bear.

_Oh, for the love of—_ Any hope of getting out of this alive suddenly went right out the window.

The buck stopped thrashing, almost immediately as it saw the bear coming. It looked furiously towards the intruder, exhaling loudly and deliberately again, as though warning the bear to back off.

I stood, immobilized on my branch, watching the two stare at each other. _I wonder which one will eat me_ … I wondered, soon registering the fact that neither of these animals are largely carnivorous. _Probably just looking for a chew toy._

_Couldn't bears climb trees?_

The bear made a whining sound and began walking towards the buck. The buck backed away from the tree, slowly… until the bear charged for it.

The buck looked like it was going to charge for the bear, but its massive size must've registered, for it took its cue and ran into the forest. I heard its hooves retreating faster and farther away with momentary relief.

Still, the bear was directly below me, and as it looked up into the tree, it spotted me. I couldn't tear my eyes away … all I could do was let out a terrified whimper.

_Please don't come up here … I'll join the rally against hunting for bears if you just don't come up here…_

It stared at me for another second, gazing curiously up to where I was before it lifted up a lazy front paw to scratch behind its ear, and stood back on all fours before finally, running away towards the west.

_Un-freaking-believable._

_Was I just saved by a bear?_

_Seriously?!_

Paralyzed, I remained in the tree for at least another fifteen minutes before finally working up the nerve to calm down. I couldn't understand why the tree was still shaking … the buck was gone. When I reached the ground, I realized that it wasn't the tree that shook … it had been me, trembling in mortal fear.

_Pull yourself together, Bella. _ I scolded myself. _You're alive and you have a mission to complete. No more regrets. And you're throwing away the bear-be-gone as soon as you get back._

I may still be denied membership for not following instructions exactly as they were put, but I had to try. With that certainty in my mind, I somehow found the courage to grab the lantern and make my way back to the campfire site, running full speed the entire way.

* * *

At the campfire, I sat for a minute or two, tending my wounded calf that I'd been walking on. It wasn't too bad, it would be bruised tomorrow, but I supposed my injuries could've been much worse. I studied the letters for a few precious minutes before turning and looking to my compass for direction.

The minute I passed the clearing, something caught my attention. Directly in front of me was a wood chopping stump, with an axe attached to it. The letter's words resonated in my head: '_Have you figured out what we ask of you, or are you Stumped? If that is the case, worry not; use your mind as a mental Axe and go beneath its surface where useful things surely lie.'_ … Stump … Axe … _beneath its surface_ … I ran towards it, almost tripping over something on the ground, and analyzed it as soon as I was close enough… there was some kind of hole underneath! I bent down and held the lantern down to the bottom, near the roots where the hole was…. There was something in there! Something blue … and clear … something with writing on it?

With more bravery than I currently felt, I reached a hand into the hole … and grasped around … there was something hard … it felt cool and … plasticky … but next to it was something … furry? …

_Holy crap!!_

Whatever the furry thing was, it moved.

_Please God, I _really_ can't handle anymore wildlife tonight…_

I yanked my hand out immediately and stepped back, holding my lantern out to see what it was … out of the hole came a small little fox… a baby by the looks of it.

I yelped loudly, creating a chilling echo throughout the forest. The thing walked out and looked right at me. I backed away slowly, but then realized that I'm bigger than it. "Please go away." I said to it, and when that didn't work, I opted for the classic. "Shoo! Shoo!"

It seemed curious. A part of me wanted to run away but I _had_ to find out what was in there. Once again I tried to shoo it.

_What's wrong with this thing?_

Upon closer inspection, though, I relaxed. This thing was actually kind of cute … what it was doing in a tree stump, I had no idea… probably looking for food. Why was it alone? "OK, little dude, I need something in that stump so how about you step aside?"

Still nothing.

"Shoo!" I said to it once more. It looked at me for a few minutes, seemingly frozen. _Oh enough!_ Being afraid of a crazy rampaging buck was one thing, but a baby fox?! I have to draw freaking the line somewhere.

I moved towards the stump and stomped one foot on the ground in order to scare it, accidentally stomping the injured calf. _Ow!_ I winced. The fox didn't seem to get scared but moved away anyway, still staring at me. Carefully I crouched down on the ground and my hand went into the stump, my fingers wrapped around the cylindrical plastic feeling object, pulling it out.

It was a bottle of water.

I almost laughed. _Thanks guys,_ I thought as I continued onward toward the next spot. The little fox decided to follow me. _Seriously, is this thing demented? _I thought as I stopped to stare at the thing.

"Where's your mama, little dude?" I stopped and turned towards it. It looked up at me with an almost adorable expression of confusion on its face. "If you're looking for food, I haven't got any." And with that I turned around and continued. I could hear it following me, but I didn't stop. It might be nice to have a little companion. "Fine, you can come with me, but your mom better not come hunting me down. Or I might reconsider my no-fur rule."

After my battles with the forest wildlife, I thought I deserved something bigger than a water bottle, but I was grateful anyway. I wondered how many other little surprises like this the League had hidden along the way and how stupid I was to have deviated from their given instructions. What other things could I have missed finding if I'd continued on the trail? Oh well, I was back on the right course and at least now I wouldn't get dehydrated. Besides, the greatest prize was surely at the end.

* * *

**I hope this came out as I planned it; a little frightening. And as I was doing research I became really fond of little woodland animals, hence the fox. He was originally a chipmunk but I changed him. His purpose will become apparent in a chapter or two. :)**

**Thanks for reading! **


	58. Garden of Eden

Where the hell am I

_Where the hell am I?! _I thought desperately. I've been hiking through the forest for at least another hour since I left the ancient campfire site. I'm tired, out of breath and my arm aches from holding the lantern up ahead of me the entire time.

Oh, and did I forget to mention? I'm scared witless.

I only seem to be getting further and further into these damn woods and it keeps getting thicker. The little fox wasn't behind me anymore, I think I lost him somewhere along the way. Though, every once in a while, I hear a chilling snapping of a twig somewhat nearby, alerting me to the unseen wildlife lurking around me, somewhere beyond my vision.

To be honest, I almost feel like crying… I'm so scared. The trembling through my body is making the light from the lantern shake as well. I'm alone and deep in the woods where no one could hear me scream… things aren't looking good.

_How could they do this to me? What was I supposed to prove? That I could survive a trek in the woods at night without peeing my pants? … I'm really not too sure about that one._

The only positive thing that has happened since I left the original Twilight League meeting place was that I'd found the ladder-like tree… and fallen off it.

Yep, that's right; I _fell_ out of a _tree!_

The damn tree had definitely resembled a ladder; hidden past a strange collection of thick trees ahead of me, I had noticed that one was different from the others. Thinner, with semi-thick branches on either side, ascending all the way up, resembling an odd, lopsided ladder. And, of course, hanging from one of the higher branches was the brown leather old-styled backpack I now had on my back.

The memory of retrieving the thing was almost painful, but I guess I _was_ glad I'd actually looked up into the tree and spotted it, for it contained a few useful items. And it wouldn't have been so bad had I not gotten attacked by a possum that was in the tree while I was climbing down.

That's right! _Attacked!_

Alright, so I might be exaggerating a bit; the thing hissed at me and I screamed and jumped back, which was a stupid move because I was still in the tree. Not really too high up, in fact by that point I was nearly at the ground, but it still counts! That's when the damn branch on the damn tree snapped and both me and the damn possum crashed onto the ground. Thank goodness I wasn't that high up at the time.

Stupid freaking forest animals! Weren't they supposed to be cute and cuddly? This thing flashed its little teeth at me as it backed away… yech! I think that's when the fox decided he wanted nothing to do with me anymore; I was clearly a bad omen.

_I hate forest wildlife. I hate all animals… except kittens. Why can't the forest be filled with kittens and puppies? Whose dumb idea was it to fill it with ferocious animals? How did deer and possums contribute to the ecosystem? They serve absolutely no purpose! Damn things should be extinct!_

That's another thing, all the while I was hiking towards the east, per my instructions, I bitterly thought back to all the cartoons I'd watched as a kid. Why is it that they all lied to me? I distinctly remember those including lovely little animals that were so sweet and helped you out if you sang to them. It worked for Snow White!

Those lying Disney cartoons! The only thing that happened when I tried to sing to the damn possum was it looked at me like I was holding a machine gun in my hand and then it keeled over!

The thing _actually _fainted! … Honestly, my voice isn't _that_ bad.

I'm never letting my children watch deceitful cartoons when I have them. No way. Next thing you know, they'll be lost in a forest and try to make friends with a damn crazy deer and get trampled. _No way. The only thing I'm letting my children watch are Rambo and Man vs. Wild type shows. Then they'll be prepared. _

_While I'm at it, I'll rule out trips to the zoo … don't want them ever getting the idea that these things are friendly._

I walked a few steps more then stopped and took the water bottle out of the backpack, uncapping it and taking a sip. There had been no note inside or around it when I discovered it, instead it held a pair of clippers, which I'm guessing is for cutting the rose when I get to it, and a few bandages, antiseptic and band aids. Was it me, or did they pack a lot more first aid stuff than one person should normally need?

_I guess they do know me pretty well after all. I don't know whether to be insulted or grateful._

It was starting to get windy out, and my fingers were freezing. From the looks of it, I wasn't anywhere near a garden; all that surrounded me were large, menacing trees.

_OK, forget Narnia_… from the looks of it I was in the forbidden forest from Harry Potter. Any second now, giant spiders would come out to eat me.

_Maybe sailing _would've_ been better than this. I could've dealt with being lost on a deserted island … it worked out OK for Tom Hanks… and those people on that show don't seem to mind too much …_ _except for all the mystery and "others" and dying … and an all-mango diet isn't that bad when you think about it…_

I continued forward, with my mind rambling on and my hand wiping a few frightened tears out of my eyes, when the thick trees began to thin out, allowing more space in between each. With my eyes still swinging from the compass to the terrain ahead of me, I moved faster.

That's when I saw it: light! So far the forest had been so dense that the trees didn't allow the glow of the moon through them, but up ahead there was a definite break in the trees.

I ran as best I could without tripping, my fear subsiding for the first time in what seemed like ages, replaced momentarily by excitement.

And then I reached it. Stepping around the last tree into the moonlit clearing, my jaw dropped in amazement as I took it the enchanting sight before me.

* * *

The prickly sensation of pins and needles radiated throughout my body as I stared, frozen in awe and wonderment. And for the second time since I began this mission, I really felt like I was a part of something significantly magical.

I stood in a large moonlit clearing in the middle of a dark forest. All around me were gorgeous flowers… I was surrounded by brilliance.

It was the Garden of Eden.

I walked slowly around, mesmerized by the sheer beauty of it. Wild, exotic flowers bloomed everywhere I looked; tulips and daisies and poppies of various colors traced the outer edges of the large, circular clearing. It didn't look neat and put together like most gardens, but more like someone sprinkled seeds all around and the garden flourished naturally, unevenly and arbitrarily placed, yet with the kind of perfection only Mother Nature at her best could produce.

Like I said, it was magic.

Even the lull of the crickets seemed to be kinder, gentler in this place, as though they were singing their respect towards nature's wondrous work in this place.

In the center were the rose bushes. One with red roses, one with white roses and one with lavender roses, all surrounding the colors of the one in the center of it all; the yellow roses.

_Those are the friendship symbol ones!_ I thought happily. They were in deep but I would have to get to them, bypassing the thorns. _I knew there was going to be a catch,_ I thought, eyeing the thorns warily.

Once again, I noticed the markings of a trail in the distance, and wondered if it was connected to the other trails. _It must take longer that way._ _After all, had I followed the trail, I wouldn't have found the backpack or the water bottle—_

Suddenly there was a definite rustling sound somewhere behind me. I spun around, eyes wide and at the ready. The rustling came closer. My heart pounded as something came into view…

"Little dude!" I threw up my hands and yelled when I saw the tiny fox step through the trees and into the exquisite meadow. "_WHAT_ are you doing here?" He stared at me. "Are you _trying_ to give me a heart attack?!" I stared at him for a few minutes, _Oh, nice Bella, not only are you yelling at a fox, but you're expecting him to answer you._

I crouched down, setting down the lantern and the backpack, "Why are you still following me? I thought you ditched me ages ago. I don't have any food," My voice went back to a normal tone. The little guy was really cute and I guess he didn't really know any better. Besides, I could really use the company, even if it is in the form of a tiny, fuzzy little animal. "Next time, if you want to come with me, just stay where I can see you, alright? Instead of scaring the crap out of me. Deal?" I held out my hand outstretched. He backed away at first but slowly came forward, letting me touch his fuzzy little head. I smiled in spite of myself, _I guess he's really not so bad._

Taking out the clippers, I spun to survey the roses in the center of the garden. They told me to look for the one with the most brilliance, so I searched through all the beautiful yellow roses for the prettiest. They were all lovely, but I soon spotted one that had bloomed to perfection.

Setting my mind on that one, I made my way towards it, carefully going through the other bushes, pushing them apart in a way that I wouldn't harm them, getting pricked and scraped by thorns along the way. The thorns clung to my clothes, ripping them in some places, making it extremely difficult to get to the middle where the yellow roses bloomed, but somehow I bypassed them without severely injuring myself or the other roses. My fingers did catch on some thorns as I reached towards the yellow rose I wanted. I winced in pain as I cut a long stem.

To my utter surprise, there was another parchment envelope waiting for me on top of the bush. How I hadn't spotted it earlier, I had no idea. With a delighted grin, I grabbed the envelope and the rose and made my way carefully back out of the prickly rose bushes.

_Man, my hands are unrecognizable!_ I realized as I made my way back to the backpack. I was lightly bleeding, getting some of it on the envelope but it didn't matter. For the first time since I'd started this forsaken mission, I was excited about the adventure.

_Could have something to do with the fact that I'm not in total darkness anymore…_

Taking out the water bottle, I drank almost all of the water, poured a bit in my hand for the fox and stuffed the rose in there, leaving some of the water for the rose to sit in, before I took out the first aid stuff and tended to my hands.

Then, finally, it was time for the envelope.

_Dear Bella,_

_Fear is classified as a natural warning towards the unknown. So far you have had to conquer your fear of the dark wilderness, however we suggest you hurry, lest you should find yourself without light; the oil in your lantern will not last long before it needs refilling._

_Thus far your journey has been simple, but alas, the time is rapidly approaching where you'll have certain doubt in our instruction. Fear and reluctance will hinder your progress unless you have figured out the point of the mission at hand. If not, dear friend, the next parts of the task will trouble you, mentally more so than physically, we believe. _

_We pray by now you understand that which you have proven yourself worthy of and allow us the same honor. Without it membership, and friendship, cannot truly be granted._

_Now, onward you must go, North West, until you no longer can follow the direction on solid ground. Further instruction floats above the surface._

_Be safe, Bella,_

_Ťwilight Łeague_

Were they kidding me?! _My journey so far has so not been simple!_ I've been attacked by a rabid deer, saved by a bear, insulted by a possum, and scared stiff for about three hours now. _Speaking of which_… I turned the compass hanging from my neck over, showing the pocket watch side and opened it.

_I only have three hours left_, I realized, my heart quickening once more as the fear returned. I don't know how many more things until I reach the end, and would I have to make my way back to the house on my own? Or would there be another place waiting for me at the end?

The idea that this mission was about to get harder terrified me. What had they meant by _'the next parts of the task will trouble you, mentally more so than physically'_? I didn't get it. And to be honest, I don't know how my sanity would hold up under any more mental strain.

I pulled out the other torn piece of parchment in the envelope. It was clear that, this too, was part of the larger riddle I'd been receiving pieces of along the way. Now I had three parts. It read:

_To have me in truth means willingness_

_To lose all you hold dear._

_Hold on to me tight_

_And I'll rid you of your fear._

I pulled out the other two corresponding pieces in my pocket and read them all together.

What could it be?

I sighed loudly and looked around the beautiful garden helplessly. If I wasn't on a time crunch, I would've loved to stay here in this garden a while longer. There was safety in the beauty of it; the light of the moon shining magnificently on the flowers around, making them glow and offering up their splendor as a sign of peace, of safety.

I took one last look around, gathered my things and continued on my way, hoping to God that the lantern would last.

* * *

**Jasper's POV**

After leaving the old house, we drove back to the other place, residing deep in the woods behind the school. I wonder how Bella will take it when she finds out how close she actually is to civilization, to Meyer University.

I'm sure she does think she's alone in some crazy wilderness; the drive to the house itself was much longer than it needed to be. There are, of course, more direct roads, but if we'd had her take those, she would've known where she was. It is essential that she doesn't.

"Do you think she'll take the trail?" Logan asked me, turning around from the passenger seat.

I shook my head, "I hope not, if she goes far enough, she'll reach campus, and that makes the mission an automatic failure."

Josh, with his hands firmly on the steering wheel of Bella's SUV, spoke next, "She's smart and I really do think she's braver than we give her credit for. You've seen her at her soccer games."

"Yes, but Bella has a pretty serious fear of Bears. Once when I slept over at her and Alice's dorms we heard her muttering something about 'bear-be-gone' in her sleep. And she has trouble walking across a flat, stable surface without tripping,"

Logan shook his head. "Grizzlies are mostly in the west and they're the only ones you really have to worry about. Black bears won't bug you if you don't bug them. And there are very few around here." We continued to discuss the possible things that might make Bella freak out. That's the real challenge: not freaking out. _If she figures out the clues, she won't freak out; she'll have no reason to._ But has she put it together?

She really didn't seem too sure back at the house. Even after the little compass test.

When we arrived back at the mansion, only a few members were already there. It was early, still almost five hours before she had to be there so I wasn't expecting many people to be here yet.

As we walked in, I spotted Alice and immediately pulled her into a hug, remembering all too well what I'd gone through when she was in Bella's position, how worried I'd been. "Hi." The flowery smell of her black hair soothed me instantly.

"Hi." She mumbled back sadly.

"What's the matter?"

"When Mel and some other members went back to put the last clues into place, they said they heard a scream in the woods." She looked worried. "Should we go get her? What if she's hurt? It's really dark out there Jasper. At least when I went, it was November and the trees where bare so the moonlight came through, but it's really thick and dark out there."

I held onto her tight, "She'll be OK; we have to give her a chance to pass. If we go out there and get her then that's it."

"I don't have the heart to tell Edward," she whispered to me, gesturing over at a lone figure sitting by a grand window which faced the surrounding woods, in the large sitting room we were in. Edward's eyes were fixed on the outdoors, his body completely immobile, like a statue. "He's so worried already."

"I understand. I remember when it was your turn." I kissed her cheek.

She shuddered at the memory, "So do I."

We waited for a couple more hours, everyone arriving and helping get things ready for the ceremony. We all knew what to do; we just hoped we'd get a chance to do it … for Bella.

Everything came together in record time … now it was a waiting game. I looked over at the window, where Edward was still seated in his earlier position; he hadn't moved an inch. I could understand his anxiety; we were all worried, wondering and hoping about Bella, but Edward was more than anyone.

I couldn't help but think about how different my friend was now than he'd been just a few months back. Among the many things that were wonderful about Bella, the one thing Alice, Emmett, Rosalie and I would always be grateful to her for was how much she inspired a change in Edward. I'd known him all my life and it had only taken her a few months to bring out the side of Edward he hardly ever let out.

I walked over to him with a cup of water. "Here." I said to him, leaning against the wall. "She'll be OK, man." I said as he accepted it.

He nodded, saying nothing.

"Are you alright?"

He nodded again. "Do you think, if she makes it here in time and with the answer …" he paused, "do you think she'll be angry that we put her through that? Do you think she'll deny membership?" His brows were furrowed in frustration, and I knew it didn't matter to him either way, but he needed to think of something other than the possible dangers Bella was in right now.

I shook my head, "If she figures out the answer, _truly_ figures it out, then I don't think she will. It happens, but it's not often."

He nodded, and then shook his head, as though needing a break from his thoughts. "So are you excited about next year? You'll be one of the leaders." He cracked a half-hearted grin.

I shrugged, unsuccessful at suppressing a grin, "Its not like we actually acknowledge specific 'leaders' anyway, we're all equals. All the ones holding seniority do is take up little responsibilities. Beside, Logan will be the real leader next year, he'll be a senior."

Edward smirked, "I know, we're a democracy but still, you're excited, I can tell."

I laughed, "I am, actually. I'm a little nervous, but it _is_ exciting."

He took out his pocket watch and flicked it open. "She should be almost done by now. Do you think it'll take her the _entire_ six hours?"

I shrugged. "I don't know man. Come on," I patted him on the shoulder, "we better go get ready."

He stood up, mumbling something in a low voice, "what if there's nothing to get ready _for_?"

"Don't think like that. There will be." _God, I hope there will be._

* * *


	59. Trust

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**My sincerest apologies for the wait, and also for not being able to respond to the reviews yet. School and personal life has been a bit overwhelming as of late. Please forgive my tardiness. **

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**Bella POV**

_I KNEW there'd be sailing involved! They thought they could fool me…_

I suppose in the day time this place would've seemed serene and pretty, a decent sized pond with large rocks all around it and some sticking out on the inside in the middle, tall grass on one side, huge green trees all around it and it was blocked from the attached stream on the other side of a dam built across it. It should be beautiful, not nearly as glorious as the garden was, but still holding some natural beauty. However in the pitch black night, it was nothing short of creepy. Not just creepy, but like serial killer chasing you through the woods waiting to jump out and kill you creepy.

The water itself was black in the moonlight, looking like dark oil moving in the slight wind. There was a ghostly wooden boat that didn't look like it would float tied to a large rock and sitting along the edges of the menacing trees …

It was a scene straight out of a nightmare.

On the old wooden boat there were what looked horribly like rubber legs draped over the front. Reluctantly, I walked over to it to see that it was, in fact, rubber waders with an envelope on them addressed to me.

_Dear Bella,_

_Boats are useful until they reach a certain age, at which point they become unreliable. Have you come to discover yet what we require of you? If so, you might heed our warning when we tell you that the safest way across this pond is to walk._

_Crossing the pond not is required of you, however entering it is. In the large rocks collected in the center of the pond lies another part of the riddle and an item which might be essential to you on this journey, if you value light in the dark._

_The waders will protect you from the water as you cross a path of stones into and across the pond. In the darkness you will not be able to see them, so follow our direction and go forth._

_The stones on the bottom are in a straight line, though they vary in size. Feel around for them before stepping. Go straight until you reach the center rocks, on the stop is the next part of the riddle and your item. _

_After you have come back or have crossed to the other side, whichever way you choose to go, find yourself at the directly opposite side of the pond. From there, continue West until you come to a tree of seeming lamentation. It is large, although its curtain-like vines attaches to it will block it from your view. Inside of it you'll find your next set of directions._

_Good luck,_

_Ťwilight Łeague_

They better be kidding me!

I have to walk _into_ a pond?! In the middle of the night? With God-knows-what swimming in there? _Come on!_

"Little dude, why the hell am I doing this again?" I turned to the baby fox and asked him. He looked at me with a tilted head. "Of course, _you_ can't answer, but I'm beginning to think this is insanity. I mean, seriously!"

I put my bag, the letter, the rose and my lantern down, and began to put the waders on. "And I'm the insane one for going along with it. Ugh!" I said looking down at myself in the waist-high waders. _Maybe Alice wasn't in the League … no way she'd have worn these things._

Sighing, I took everything out of my pockets and the pocket watch/compass from around my neck, leaving them next to the bag, so there was no chance of getting them wet. It didn't matter that I was in a huge half suit of dark green rubber, it was me and somehow I'd find a way to get wet. I just knew it.

As I stepped towards the water, the fox came with me. "No way, you have to stay here." I said to him. "Seriously, stay." I repeated when he moved towards the water again. "Look, man, I'm running really low on time, so I can't argue with you now. Freaking stay!" I stamped my foot on the ground to get my point across. That seemed to do the trick. He backed away, with his head down. I felt really bad but what was I going to do? Carry him into the water?

The first stone was visible, the second one not so much. By the time I reached the fourth one, I couldn't see anything under the cold black water surrounding my legs. I didn't want to bring the lantern with me, for fear of dropping it into the water, so I left it as close to the edge as possible.

_Its ok, Bella, just breathe. Breathe. No need to panic, you're fine._ I was almost halfway to the middle where the rocks were and the water was getting higher, now reaching my hips. I leaned forward, putting all my weight on one foot while I felt around under the water for another rock. It was there and I stepped, when out of the corner of my eye I saw something moving in the water.

_Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no._ I froze, wondering if it was my imagination.

It wasn't my imagination, there was an undulating wave, definitely not caused by wind… something was swimming around … towards me.

_Piranha definitely piranha, that or the Loch Ness monster ….. I see one head stick up out of the water and I am hauling ass out of here._

Instinct took over and I threw myself onto the new stone, slipping and falling all the way in. I didn't care; I hurried towards the center rocks, half swimming, half pulling myself against the water and finally up into the rocks as soon as I reached them. Clamoring up as high as I could, while whatever was in the water swam towards me. I watched carefully, it had a head sticking out of the water but in the dark I couldn't see it clearly … until it came up to the rocks and climbed up slowly.

"LITTLE DUDE!" I screamed loudly when I saw him. "I _told_ you to stay put! Why don't you listen?!" This damn thing was going to be the death of me.

--

* * *

Stupid oblivious fox!

I had made my way back to where my bag and lantern were with the stuff that was on the rocks. I still had the waders on and now they were heavy, and filled with water as I exited out of the pond, the infuriating fox behind me. I was soaked! Completely through all my clothes!

It turns out the item that was on the rock was a small bottle of lantern oil, which I was grateful for. It wasn't much, but hopefully it would last me the rest of the journey. There were matches in a waterproof little package attached to it, and, of course, another piece of the riddle, which was now a little wet. Luckily the letters were still in tact.

Cursing madly, I took off the waders, and threw them back onto the useless boat. Why? Why me? Who did I piss off in the League? Was this emmett's way of paying me back for calling him a Smurf when we dyed him blue?

I noticed something red in the boat when throwing in the waders. Was that a water gun? I reached in to get it, but my fingers knocked it down and it rolled deeper into the boat. _Damn it. _

Carefully, I put my legs over the side of the boat and went in to get it.

It was a flare gun .. with a tiny piece of paper on it.

_In case you wish to stop here._

_- Ť.Ł._

Seriously? I was miserable enough to consider the thought. But I sighed and left the flare gun where it was. Who was I kidding? I'm insane enough to keep going.

_There better be a freaking shower back at that house,_ I thought angrily, _or whereever this stupid mission is leading me._

I got up and began to make my way out of the boat when I realized that it was moving slightly. Drifting ….

_And sinking!_

_Oh crap! _I ran to the edge of the boat and jumped over it onto the muddy ground. In horror, I watched the boat drifted away from the edge … _Oh crap! Would they be mad if I sunk their boat?_

Without thinking I ran towards it and pulled the little rope attached to it that had come off the rock it was tied around. My legs splashed into the water and grabbed it, pulling the boat, now half under water, back to the edge.

_There, good as new… almost._ Only the top edges were visible, the rest was underwater. _Screw it, I'll blame it on the Loch Ness monster that lives in this pond if anyone asks._

"You know, if you don't want people to sink your boat, you should just leave it hanging around where anyone can just accidentally jump in it!" I exclaimed out loud, angrily.

The fox was staring at me, resting near my bag and staring at me like I was insane. "Oh what are you staring at?! This is your fault you know, I'd be dry if it weren't for you."

He ignored me and lay down.

Cursing again, I went to read the next part of the riddle.

_You keep me in yourself,_

_That is a fact you can't contest._

_I give you peace,_

_Without me, you cannot rest._

Great. I'd have to figure this out on the way, because time was definitely running out.

--

* * *

Traveling in the black woods, the only sounds I could hear was my breathing and the crunching and snapping of leaves and twigs that my feet made along the journey. I'd refilled the lantern but it still didn't allow me much room for error on this trip … it was still lower on oil than I'd like. And I was running out of time. It was 10:45 when I'd left the pound and I'd been traveling for at least twenty minutes … I didn't have much time left.

I began to run towards the rest, the damn fox at my soaking wet heels. I was freezing, but my desperation and anxiety overpowered each of those emotions.

To distract myself from all my worries, I did the only thing that made sense to do in my situation; I tried to figure out what the heck they wanted from me. Since my brain had memorized all their letters, due to the fact that I'd reread each countless times, my mind repeat the phrases that stood out to me:

'…_we must ask you to think about what true friendship consists of…"_

But I'd been over that one a thousand times, so I moved on to the quotes they had included in their letters: _'The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship. It is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with friendship.'_

Was I a complete idiot for not figuring it out yet? Had everyone else in my position gotten it by now?

Man, that would be really embarrassing.

The clouds in the sky had cleared, I could tell by the small gaps between the tops of trees where I could actually make out some stars. However the wind that blew the clouds away had stayed and it was bone chilling.

Cold is not something you want to be when you're scared. I held the lantern close to me as I walked, huddling near it for warmth, but upon every rustling of the trees in the wind, I thrust it out away from my body, trying to light the dark woods and see any possible predators gunning for me. Most of the time I knew it was just my imagination but every once in a while—

Was that a twig snapping?!

Oh, it's just the Little Dude.

_Damn creepy forest and its sound … watch, by the time I get back to civilization I'll have a full head of gray hair … _

"…and then I'll yank them all out and get twice as many …" I muttered out loud to myself, "I'll have to dye my hair to make it brown … maybe since I'm dying it anyway I could go for something lighter … maybe blonde? Can you see me as a blonde, little guy?"

He didn't answer. Of course not, he's a fox.

_Oh, God … I'm losing it. I need to get out of the woods. Now._

I swear I'm driving myself insane with this mission. I've been going so fast that my legs are in agony, but I can't slow down … not here. Not when I'm running out of time… and really close to getting pneumonia.

_Stop freaking yourself out more, Bella, do something useful with your time._

OK. What else had the letters said? The same answer kept hitting me in the head: friendship. That's what they'd been repeating over and over. Friendship is what I had to prove to them, it was what the yellow rose stood for. _But what about friendship? _

There is something specific that I'm not getting … and I better get it soon.

Before I could answer myself, I saw it. At first, when I saw it through the clearing in the trees, I thought it was a vine covered wall, but it wasn't.

In front of me was the largest weeping willow tree I'd ever seen.

_Oh, 'tree of lamentation'… ha! I get it now._

Catching my breath, I stepped through the thick curtain of vines coming down all around it.

Inside it was dark, completely … but somehow serene. There was an air of maturity to this place … well of course; I could tell it was extremely old. The thickness of the trunk was incredible … among the ground the beginnings of the deep bulky roots could be made out.

But there was more than that … it as perfectly empty on this side of the vines and it provided a similar feeling than that of the garden … something magically peaceful … quiet and perfect in the way only time and nature could produce.

There was a large flat rock inside, for seating most likely. On the tree itself was carved a large circular symbol … the Twilight League symbol gave me an immediate sense of tranquility as I raised the lantern so I could see it.

I wasn't just lost in the woods. There's reason to this.

Next to the rock there was a small dark wooden box, with the same circular symbol of the sun and moon together was carved into it. Setting down the lantern, I went to pick it and ran my fingers over it. It was beautiful. Carefully, I lifted the lid.

Inside was a photograph, and two parchment envelopes, arranged one on top of the other. I picked up the first one, the one with the familiar neat handwriting I now recognized as my grandmothers.

_My darling descendant,_

_I am so proud of you for making it this far. Regardless of the outcome, know that it stirs my heart to think how you have followed the steps preceded by myself, my father, my grandfather and even a few others in our family. I hope that this letter reaches you, for if it does, then you are truly as spectacular as I imagine you to be._

_Hopefully at this point, you have figured out what it is that we need from you. You have already proved it, my dear, or you would not have been allowed to come this far. Read over the clues, think and figure out what keeps true friendship alive and lasting. It is what makes us secure in our alliances, darling. Figure it out and reciprocate it. _

_Maybe at this point you are scared or angry enough to reconsider your previous thoughts of joining. Whatever you choose, I hope that you allow the answer to come from your doubtlessly wonderful heart and not your apprehension. Although I warned you of the perils of this journey, I know that reading about it and experiencing it are two very different things._

_Whatever path you choose, my darling, and whether or not you make it into the Twilight League, I am so immensely proud of you for coming this far. _

_I love you. Please remember to always be safe, strong and brave. _

_My love is always with you,_

_Sabrina Hayden._

Out of nowhere I felt tears leaving my eyes. Before long, a sob followed. And as I picked up the photographs under the envelope it turned into a full fledged cry.

The first was the same black and white photograph of my grandmother, entering the woods with a lantern identical to the one I had next to me in hand. I don't know why I was suddenly overcome with emotion, maybe it was the entire journey… all the worrying and fright I'd been through in the last few hours finally boiling up to the surface and coming out of my eyeballs.

The second photograph was of a young man in the woods, with the same expression of fear mixed with excitement that Sabrina had on her face … in fact, almost all of the same features.

My great grandfather. Doing the same thing I had just done. He looked to be about my age, young, handsome and, I noticed, a little more into the mission than I had been. He obviously didn't scare easy.

Wiping my tears away with the back of my hand, I felt a small nudge on my ankle. The little fox was rubbing his snout on my wet leg affectionately.

I laughed a little, reaching out to pet him, "You know, you're really not that annoying sometimes."

I went back to the box, taking out the last envelope addressed to me in the League's signature calligraphy letters.

_Dear Bella,_

_You are close to the end. We hope you have ample time and will to complete the mission. This is the last stop before the end. You must figure it out before you reach total darkness. Head straight to the south now, until you hit a stone wall. Find the dark opening and head down into the black emptiness. If you have figured out what you must, you'll know what to expect in there._

_Before you enter the darkness, you must put out the lantern and leave it at the entrance. It is not to come with you. _

_We truly hope you have not run out of time. _

_Good Luck,_

_Ťwilight Łeague_

My heart pounded hard in my chest as I checked the pocket watch around my neck. Half an hour…. I had half an hour ….

I quickly pulled out the last piece of the riddle, putting it together with all the other pieces of paper and reading it all together.

_You are all the same_

_Tied by similar experiences._

_I bind you all further,_

_Giving strength to your alliances_

_All man has me, in some context or the next._

_Place me correctly and flourish,_

_I shall keep you all together._

_Without me, you will surely perish._

_To have me in truth means willingness_

_To lose all you hold dear._

_Hold on to me tight_

_And I'll rid you of your fear._

_You keep me in yourself,_

_That is a fact you can't contest._

_I give you peace,_

_Without me, you cannot rest._

_Without me, you cannot love._

_What am I?_

I read it over a few times, my mind going back and forth over the words, trying to make some sense out of them. It seemed so obvious, yet I couldn't get it.

So, once again, I began to go over earlier letters and clues, from back when I first met them to now. It was spelled out for me in there. _What did true friendship consist of?_

Love? Respect? Dedication? They all seemed like cookie-cutter answers to me; like what you'd say just to sound smart, but that's not really what comes to mind. I fingered the brilliant yellow rose I had in my hand absentmindedly as I thought about my friends; Rosalie and with her powerful tenacity: it could be very intimidating if you don't now her well but she uses it to protect those she loves. Jasper and his uncanny ability to know how you're feeling at any moment, and how he can always make your mood brighter by just saying a few kind words. Emmett, the big macho man with the heart of gold, who never fails to brighten up any situation. Alice, my incredible roommate who made her way into my heart before I'd even realized it; she seems to always be ahead of the game and uses that to help out those she loves, even when it's against their wishes. And my Edward; strong, insightful, caring, protective, loving, beautiful Edward who trusted me enough to put down his guard and let me into his life. I don't know how I ever got so lucky.

My skin got prickly with sentiment and my eyes watered as the thoughts struck me like lightning. I don't know what I'd ever done to deserve such the friendship and trust of such amazing people.

_Wait a second—_

My eyes widened and I stared down at the yellow rose; a symbol of friendship. _'..Without me you cannot love. What am I?'_ …

Trust. The answer is trust.

It's essential in alliances, it's what true friendship consists of and it's something that I had proved to them. My mind wandered back to the house when the cloaked League member threw the ancient pocket watch, a symbol of the entire organization, up in the air— he knew I'd catch it. He trusted me to do everything in my power to uphold the values and secrets of their organization. They had all trusted me with their two greatest treasures; their friendship and their secret.

_I can't believe I didn't realize this before._ I can be a real idiot sometimes. Had I returned that trust, I never would've gone off the path, and I wouldn't have been killing myself in this mission; I should've known that they would never deliberately put me in harms way.

With a new found sense of conviction, I got up, gathering my things with me and hurrying south, towards the end.

Lord willing, I wouldn't be too late.

--

* * *

I was running, as best one could sprint on the uneven ground of the woods. The wet clothes that stuck to my body and the shivering cold I felt were completely ignored. Somewhere along the way, the oil in the lantern burned out, but it didn't matter … I was so close. There was darkness all around me, but the trees were thinning out, not so dense anymore, and they allowed the moon to be my light.

My lungs were burning, my legs aching, my arms and hands hurting from all the times I fell and used them to break my landing. I could hear the Little Dude right by my side, but I didn't look.

I didn't stop until I saw a large stone wall.

But I couldn't see the opening. I went right up to it and walked along side it, running my fingers on it until fingers reached an emptiness. And all I saw when I looked into the space was black.

"Hello?" I said aloud. But a bone chilling echo repeated the word back to me. This was it. I had to go in here.

I put down the lantern outside it. "I'm sorry, Little Dude, this is where you and I part ways, I guess." I crouched down to pet him and he came over to me, licking my hand. "Thank you for keeping me company. Are you going to be OK out here on your own?"

He nudged my hand. "I'll take that as a yes." Sighing, I got up and began to walk into this tunnel, but he followed me. I crouched down again. "I'm sorry little guy but I have to do this on my own." His little face had the saddest expression on it. "Oh, don't do this to me, please!" _How am I supposed to just leave a helpless baby animal alone in the forest?_ I couldn't. "Fine, you can come with me." I scooped him up into my arms, hoping he didn't have rabies or anything.

He was incredibly still in my arms as I held him close to me, the rose safely in the other hand.

Then I began the scariest part of the mission yet; my journey into a deep, pitch black tunnel, not knowing what was inside.

Inside it was cold, damp and my footsteps echoed. The hard, cement ground was steep, and I knew that the further in I got, the deeper underground I was going. The only sound other than that of my squeaky wet sneakers were my chattering teeth. _Am I crazy for doing this? What if there's some weird animal in here?_

But there wouldn't be. I had learned to trust the Twilight League and I knew they wouldn't lead me into harm's way.

A few minutes later, the echoing became less and I knew there was at least a wall or something in front of me, but I didn't realize where it was until I stumbled over a stone step. "Ouch!" I winced as my knee hit the crease in the hard step. Carefully I felt my way around with my feet, going up one step, then one more, before I couldn't go up any further. My hands roamed in front of me, feeling the cool stone in front over me.

Then they ran over something wooden, something large … a door. I tried to find the knob but couldn't in the dark, instead my fingers traced something cold and metal, circular shaped and protruding from the door itself: a knocker.

So I used it, lifting up the swinging piece and knocking hard three times.

The echoing sound boomed all around me, making both me and the baby fox in arms jump slightly.

And then I waited, praying that I wasn't too late.

--

* * *


	60. Too Late?

Was this the end

Was this the end? Was I too late? The tunnel was pitch black so I couldn't see the pocket watch. The only noise was of water dripping slowly from somewhere and dropping onto a puddle. Each _drip_ echoed throughout the hollow tunnel …

_God, I wish this was the end… _I was sure by now that I hadn't made it, I had been severly pressed for time.

Once more I felt around the darkness for the door, finding the knocker again and beating it loudly against the wood. The knocks echoed boomingly around me in the damp, cold tunnel. _Knock, knock, knock—_

I heard the definite ticks of a latch being undone on the other side of the door. With a loud _creeeeeaaaak_ the thick wooden door opened slowly. My eyes, so accustomed now to the dark, winced a little at the light of another lantern being held by a hooded figure in a silvery satin robe. My heart beat with anticipation and I could no longer tell if I was trembling from the cold drafts hitting my still wet form, or from the pure fear I felt, or from the desperation I felt at the moment. I was almost sure I was too late. Either that or I had cut it very close.

The hooded figure spoke in the usual enhanced deep voice, "Come."

I nodded and followed him inside, through a narrow, stone hallway, completely dark except for the lantern in his hand. He offered me no consolation; giving me no hint as to what was to come. So I asked. I mean, I probably already lost, so asking couldn't really hurt me. "Am I too late?" My voice came out hoarse and barely above a whisper. But I received no answer. He only continued through the seemingly endless hallway and up some narrow old looking stone steps. At the top of the steps was another hallway, although this one was shorter and we could go in one of two directions. He went to the left, with me following his fast footsteps and led me into a door.

It was a very small room, adorned with a dark victorian air, giving it a chilling feel. With the light of the lantern, I took in the dark paneling on the walls, the deep espresso colored wood of the grand desk that was off the the side, the deep burgundy colors of the small sofa and its surrounding chairs, all so ornate and royal looking.

"Have a seat." He spoke again. "Someone will be with you shortly."

He lit a lamp next to the sofa and left me in the room, shutting the door behind him as he left.

I took off the leather backpack, sank back into one of the chairs, relishing the warmth of the room and happy to be out of the woods at last. Unfortunately, that alone could not ease my mind. Settling the little dude on my lap, and keeping the yellow rose safely in one hand, I reached for the pocket watch around my neck with icily stiff fingers and clicked it open.

12:05

I huge lump rose in my throat. I tried to beat it back down but tears were springing into my eyes and I was unable to stop them from spilling over. _Was this it? After everything, how could I lose?_ I felt like a terrible failure, like I'd let down Sabrina … like I'd let down Renee. _I'm so sorry,_ I thought, praying silently to no one in particular. _After everything … I'm sorry I let you down._

Tears fell freely from my eyes now and I haphazardly wiped them away. Had I not deviated from the instructions earlier, I would've been on time. My long hair was still very moist, but I took it out of the ponytail anyway and let it fall over my face, covering at least part of my eyes. _I can't be crying when they show up_. _Have some dignity, Bella._

I used the remaining alone time to compose myself before the door opened again and three fully cloaked League members entered the room. I stood as they came in and shut the door behind them.

"Good evening, Bella." The one in the middle said gravely.

I nodded, not trusting my voice at this point. Somehow, I managed to let out another hoarse whisper, "Good evening." I waited for them to say more, and when they didn't, I reached out my hand. "Here." I said, extending my arm to hand to one in the middle the yellow rose. "Even if it's too late, I brought it, so you may as well take it." The lump in my throat was back.

He took it gently from my icy fingers. "Thank you." He handed it to one of the people next to him who went behind the desk and produced a tall, skinny black vase and dropped it in there. "Did you figure out the other part?" He asked again, making my attention snap back to him.

I nodded and swallowed the lump in my throat, beating it down as best I could. "I apologize for not expressing it sooner. It takes me longer than most, I suppose. But I do trust you."

The three of them all nodded. "Thank you." They said in unison. I waited for more. Was this it? Disappointment rose in me again, making me almost burst into tears. After everything … was this it? Against my will, my lip began to tremble, but I immediately blamed it on the cold, hunching my shoulders in and using the arm that wasn't holding up the little dude to cross over my chest.

The one on that had put the rose in the vase cleared his throat. "I think it would be wise to allow you to clean up before continuing our conversation." He said. The other two nodded. "Follow me please. You may leave your things here." I nodded solemnly and began to move in step with him. "Er…" He said, "You can live _him_ here, as well." He gestured towards the little guy. I hesitated. "May I ask why you brought him with you?" There was a hint of amusement staining his tone.

I shrugged, hiding my reddening face, "He wouldn't stop following me. I tried to leave him behind but he wasn't having it." I explained, "He's kind of annoying and he made me fall into the pond but he doesn't have a mother and I couldn't leave him out there all alone, he's a baby… Besides, he kinda grows on you."

The three of them chuckled in their deep altered voices, the sound was a bit weird … it was kind of hearing three Dark Vaders laugh … _Man, I wish they'd just lose the voice modulators already._

The leader one reached forward, "We will make sure he is well cared for."

I looked down at the little dude in my arms, who was looking around curiously, before handing him over. "I trust you." The words came out naturally, and at the time, I wasn't even aware of their double meaning.

I followed the one member out of the room and he led me up some more steps. There was something familiar about the place I was in, but I was sure I hadn't seen in before. Until he led me into a tiny dark room with nothing but a chair and a little table with a lantern. _I've been here before_. I was in here when I first met them, the night of the masked ball. Through the one door, was the gorgeous dressing room where the red dress and the vanity had been. To the other side was a door I hadn't notice before.

"There is a shower in there with towels and everything you will need." His voice cut through the deep silence, pulling me out of my thoughts and making me jump slightly. "When you are done, go back into this room and go through the other door where you'll find a dressing room."

I nodded, "I remember."

"Good. There will be a change of clothes awaiting you when you finish. We will give you half an hour. Er… will that be enough time? It takes some people longer than others" He asked, politely.

I nodded again, smiling. _Yep. He must mean Alice. And Rosalie._ "Yes. Thank you." He gave a curt nod and began to exit the room from where we came in. "Wait." I said before I could stop myself.

"Yes, Bella?"

I hesitated, but I _had_ to know. It was killing me. "I failed, didn't I? I just have to know…" My voice came out a whisper yet again as fresh tears began to swell in my eyes. I blinked them back furiously, not looking at him.

He didn't answer right away. But soon he took a deep breath and spoke, "I cannot answer that for you at this time, Bella. I'm so sorry." And he did sound sincere.

I nodded, forcing a smile. "It's okay." I said to him.

He reached out and put a strong hand on my shoulder. I felt myself calm down a little; finding a strange familiar comfort in his gesture. "Take your time." He said to me, kindly before he left the room.

Once he left, I went through the one door to find a bright bathroom with a huge white shower and lots of fluffly gray and black towels folded neatly on a shelving unit built into one of the walls. There was a long mahogany sink console with a white marble top and ornate silver fixtures over the sink basin. The large mirror over it was framed in dark, ornate silver. On the console itself were a few drawers and little cabinets. I went over and opened one of the cabinets, to find various different kinds of toiletries and such in there. After choosing a shampoo, conditioner and body wash, I plucked a large black towel from the pile and went to take a shower.

However, even the soothingly warm water couldn't calm my nerves at this point. Before I realized it, I was sobbing quietly in the shower, the despair and disappointment taking over. I wasn't brave, I wasn't strong … I had failed my family and my friends. I had ruined what Renee had wanted so badly for me to partake in; what was meant for her and passed onto me.

Tears mixed in with the water falling heavily on me and fell onto the tile floor of the large white shower. They kept coming and I let them continue, not that I could stop them at this point if I'd wanted to. The fear of the mission, the desperation at my failure and all the pressure that had been burdening me for so long boiled up to the surface and was making its way out of my eyeballs. I was no longer in control.

_You'll still have your friends_, I told myself. _Nothing has to change..._ except won't it?

Ten minutes later, freshly scrubbed and once again in control of my sorrows, I swallowed down my misery and wrapped the black towel around me, after drying my hair as best I could. Taking my wet clothes with me, I slowly opened the door to the other small room, checking there was indeed no one there before going into the dressing room.

It was as beautiful as I remembered, but its finery didn't excite me now as it had before; this time it didn't represent the great mysteries and treasures I could possibly unveil. Now its brightly lit deep teal walls with crisp white molding everywhere just reminded me of what I was going to be missing out on; the enchanting world I would never get another chance to partake in.

Next to the large white vanity with lighted mirrors against one of the walls, was a little bench with a white camisole and under garments folded up. I blushed, wondering who had to pick these out for me. On the wall adjacent to the vanity there was a large 3-way mirror and next to, where the red dress once hung waiting for me, was a simple dark gray button down shirt and a pair of black jeans. Under them were simple black flats in my size. As quickly as I could, I changed into the given outfit, recognizing the black jeans as the same ones I had in my closet and my own black diesel flats; both items I'd gotten while on one of many shopping trips with Alice. _Alice…_ I thought with a small lift in my spirit. _Did she go through my underwear drawer too?... God I hope she didn't see that romance novel in there… I knew I should've hidden it in my sock drawer… _

With all the hair products and stuff in the vanity, I made myself as presentable as possible, smoothing my almost-dry hair as straight as I could get it and throwing some stuff in there to ensure that it wouldn't frizz before putting my wet clothes into the given bag and making my way back out into the room.

The hooded figure was already out there waiting for me. "You may leave the bag with your things here." He said. I did as I was told and followed him back out of the room. We ended up back in the same Victorian style office that I was in earlier.

The first thing I noticed was the little dude munching on some stuff off of navy blue fine china on top of the large wooden desk. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight: a random woodland creature eating off fine china was funny to me for some reason.

"You may be seated." The one who seemed like the leader said to me as the other two took seats on the sofa. I sat on one of the posh chairs with my nerves getting the better of me.

They were all silent for a few moments, as though waiting for something, or maybe not knowing where to begin. Finally, the leader spoke again. "Earlier this evening, back at the house, we asked you if you felt that you had sacrificed anything since beginning your journey with us. Do you still feel that you have lost nothing?"

I struggled to keep my voice from sounding wobbly, "No, I haven't lost anything. If anything I think I gained a few things along the way."

"Such as?"

I thought for a moment, "Courage, more than I ever thought I possessed."

They were all silent, before one of them spoke, the same one who led me to the other rooms. "I think you have gained a lot more than that. When I—," He paused, "When _we_ first came across you, you were very cautious with yourself around others. The transformation is almost hard to believe. Not to say that others in your position have canged less, but from where you began, it is quite remarkable. We understand that trust is not something you easily give. We thank you for offering it to us now."

I felt the tears begin to rise again … _A lot of good it did me._

"We understand the difficulty of this mission, and what you must've felt while you were out there. What are your feelings towards it now that it is over? Are you angry with us for putting you through that?"

I shook my head. "No, not angry. Well, not at you, more at myself…" My voice failed me. "I should've … had I figured things out sooner, I would've made it back in time."

We were all silent once more.

"Originally," The leader spoke again, "Your journey with us began because you searched for a connection to your family. I am curious, is that the reason you are upset that you didn't make it back in time? Is that the drive behind your want for membership?"

I took a second to collect my thoughts before answering him. "It began that way, admittedly, but it isn't anymore." I let my mind wander back to the beginning of the year, letting my heart speak the truth to them. What could I lose at this point? "When you first contacted me, I was so desperate to find anything about them, my family that I was clinging onto anything that would keep them alive for me, I guess … but eventually…" I swallowed yet another lump in my throat, "eventually it came time to let go," _Don't cry Bella, keep it together,_ "and when I did, I realized that it wasn't just about them anymore. Membership into the League was about more than that." I swallowed again, keeping my eyes locked on the floor. "And I'm truly sorry for letting you down tonight."

Silence again; it was deafening. I wished they would just say it already. We all knew the truth, what was sitting here discussing it going to do?

One of them cleared their throat and spoke, "Sometimes it is important to let go of the things that keep us from moving on, but perhaps you can keep a portion of it with you."

I nodded, "Always." Tears sprung into my eyes and I blinked them back. I would always keep Renee with me, a piece of her anyway. "So is this it, then?" I asked, needing a subject change for fear of bursting into uncontrollable sobs, not that this subject was cheery at all.

The leader one took a deep breath and spoke, "That is a good question."

What? "I'm sorry, I don't understand." But they didn't answer me, instead, they all stood. I stood with them. "Whats happening?" Instead of answering me, they whispered something to each other quickly, before two of them left the room.

The one that had led me to the other rooms beckoned me, "Please stay here." He requested in a serious voice.

"Have I failed?" I asked him desperately.

"I still cannot answer that. What do you think?"

I kept my eyes on the floor, "I think I have."

"What makes you think so?"

I shook my head, "I was late. And it took me forever to figure out what the whole thing was about."

He nodded and then led me out of the room and around the maze-like old looking building. When we were at the top of another flight of steps, he finally spoke again. "And did you figure out what it was about?"

"Trust," I responded. "But you asked me to reciprocate it, and I should've done that from the beginning, instead of not doing it until the end."

"Correct. You should have." He turned a completely hooded face and spoke to me directly. "And now we must ask you to do it once more." I was silent. "Bella, _do you trust us?_"

I nodded slowly, still very much confused. "Yes."

"Good." He put his hand on my shoulder once more, "Don't worry so much, Bella. Things will always work out the way they are supposed to."

"But I don't understand…" I began as he led be down the stairs and into a large, high ceilinged room that I had definitely been in before. It had two sets of very large double doors on each side, one leading outdoors, and one leading to that ballroom I'd been in once before.

"Bella," he said once we reached the foot of the stairs, where there was another cloaked League member holding a large midnight blue box at his side. "Think back to the letters and the riddles. What do you remember?"

I frowned, "A lot of stuff, specifically those things detailing what I was to find and how my time was dwindling."

He shook his head, "_The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship…"_ He began.

I remembered the words and continued for him, "_It is the Spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with friendship._ Yes, I remember. And?"

He nodded, "Do you also remember reading numerous times things that hinted towards you _already possessing_ that which is important?"

I thought back to the letters … yes a few of them, "you mean around the second task? Yea, they meant about the pocket watch, which I already had but didn't know, because I thought it was only a compass." I stopped, waiting for his answer, but he didn't respond, "Right?"

"Don't you think that by now you _should_ know that our words and our clues always bear more than one meaning." And with that, he turned and took the box that the other League member had offered to him. "We wrote to you once that we had already considered you a great friend, do you remember?" I nodded, slowly, recalling the words from previous letters, "And on this mission you were set to find what is most important in friendships, correct?"

I nodded again, "Trust," I repeated.

"That's right. Without a little faith, there can be no alliances, no friendship. With a clenched fist, no one can shake hands, Bella." He paused, giving me a second to process his words, "The point of the mission was for you to prove that you had unclenched your fist and allowed us in. Do you understand?"

I shook my head. "No." He laughed a very deep laugh. "But I ran out of time … I was too late…" He didn't answer, "Wasn't I?"

Instead of answering me he held the box securely in his hand and turned to the double doors leading to the ballroom. He led me inside, the other League member behind me. I was profoundly confused, but I walked behind them anyway.

The large ballroom was not as I remembered it; it was almost completely dark and empty, except for a black velvet draped little table in the center with an elegant candlelabra with lit long white candles. Next to the candelabra were five extra candles on the side, a small box, the rose that I had brought them in a vase and an empty, glass encased candle holder. Out of the corner of my eyes, I recognized the outline of similar small tables with empty candlelabras scattered along the walls of the dark room.

In front of the table were two hooded members waiting for us silently with their arms folded in front of them. I gulped unconsciiously as we walked up to them. _This can't be good… are they going to kill me?_

Once we were in front of them, the one that I had been speaking to turned around to face me. He said nothing, and we stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Or was it only a few seconds? Suddenly, he held the box out to me. "Please lift the lid," was all he said. I did so, lifting up the thin, rectangular lid off of the box and seeing nothing inside but dark paper. I looked up at him, clearly confused. One of the other members took the lid gently from me so that I could look into the box, as best I could in the very limited candle light.

My fingers did the searching for me. The paper turned out to be tissue, and under many layers of it, I felt the cool satin. My fingers trembled and my heart filled as I lifted a long dark silver robe out of the box he held in front of me.

I looked up at him, my eyes filling with tears and my face undoubtedly showing my confusion, until he spoke again. "Better late than never, Bella."

The others took the box away from him and put it beside the table as I stared with an open mouth at the cloak … _It can't be…_

I heard the door open and although it was dark, I could see the outlines of every cloaked Twilight League member as they all walked into the room in a straight line, one after the other; their shiny satin robes glimmering in the dim candlelight. But they weren't walking towards us. No, instead they circled around the room, each one spreading out in a perfect circle surrounding those of us in the center.

The League member in front of me cleared his throat softly, to get my attention back once everyone was in the room. My eyes snapped back to his cloaked face immediatley. "You are going to need to wear this now." He said kindly as he took the from me and held it open, politely, insinuating that I was to put it on.

I wiped away a few happy tears before stepping into the robe. The satin felt wonderfully fluid as it fell onto me. I thought it would be too long, but somehow it had been perfectly tailored to fit me, stopping right above the floor and not allowing my feet to be seen. Two of the members helped me put it on and fit it the way it was supposed to be worn, although they specifically kept the hood down in the back, while theirs covered their faces.

Once I had my robe on correctly, the two that helped me stood beside the table, next to the other two, all of them facing of me. The only sounds were those of the other member's light footsteps as they continued to form a large circle, facing the five of us in the center. Soon the ballroom door closed and there was silence once again.

"Isabella Marie Swan Hayden." The leader spoke loudly in his impossible deep altered voice. The sound carried easily throughout the tall ballroom. "It was here, not too long ago, that we approached you with the possibility of membership into our sacred circle. And now you stand before us, having proven yourself as a person of bravery, intellect and integrity. Within you dwell the values we uphold with great merit in our organization and therefore we find you truly worthy and _capable_ of our faith and friendship." I was too shocked and amazed to say anything … I couldn't believe it…

"On this night, in this place, with all of us gathered before you… we invite you to join us." He tone, despite the scary alterations of it, had a cheerful tone to it as it carried loudly around the large room. A warm, fulfilling feeling of euphoria spread throughout me. I closed my eyes for a second to take it all in. _This was it._ I was elated. "I speak for the entire Twilight League when I say what an honor it would be to have you in our sacred circle. Do you accept?"

I beamed back at his cloaked face, "Absolutely." I said with conviction. It was weird, but it was almost like I could feel the happiness radiating off of all the other members around me. "Thank you for having me."

"It is our pleasure to have you as one of us. Know now the weight of your commitment, for our bond to each other is everlasting. Will you willingly take part?"

"Yes."

"Our traditions are one of the things that we cling to dearly, and we take great pride in them, for they fill our days at this university with excitement, merriment and meaning. Once you are in, they will be revealed to you in detail. Do you vow to always uphold the traditions and morals of our organization?"

"Yes."

"Do you so promise to hold our secrecy in the appropriate high regards?"

"Yes."

He turned to the table and picked up the five long, white unlit candles and handed one each to the three hooded members next to him, kept one for himself, and gave one to me. Then he turned to the candelabra on the table and lit his own candle before turning back to me, and lighting my candle with his, speaking as he did it, "We who stand before you are all part of one unit, each individual rays of the same sun."

One of the members at his side moved towards me and held out his candle, which I immediately understood that I was supposed to light. Once I did, he lit the candle of another, and then that one lid the other one's candle. When the last of the four in front of me had his candle lit, he walked past me, towards the door and stopping in front of another member, who I now saw had an identical long white candle in hand. He lit the candle of one of the members and as he walked back towards the center, each member around the room took their turn lighting the candle of the person next to them. The process happened quicker than I could imagine, and in the light of the candles, I could see their completely hooded faces… it reminded me of the scary photographs in the house at the beginning of the evening. This time, however, it wasn't so scary… it was inviting.

Once everyone had their candle lit, the leader in front of me spoke again. "May you always value the adventure that is life as we do, Bella. May you always have faith in us as we do in you, and may you always seize every adventure life offers you. After all, that is the point of our organization; seizing the day, and trusting little in tomorrow." The next sentence he spoke even louder, as a chant, "_Carpe Diem, quam minimum credula postero._" His voice softened again as he addressed me. "Please repeat the words with us."

As I spoke, I heard everyone in the room chant the words loudly, _"Carpe diem, quam minimun credula postero._" As everyone finished chanting the sounds of the booming voices still echoed in the room.

Then, once everything was quiet again, the four in front of me reach into their robes and removed something from around the front opening of their robes; small black devices… voice modulators.

And in one swift movement the four of them whipped their hoods back revealing their faces.

"I knew it!" I laughed.

Josh, Melanie, Logan and Jasper stood in front of me, laughing at my words. Josh, the leader, spoke in his normal voice, "May I have your candle please, Bella?"

I beamed at him, "of course." I said as I handed it to him.

He took it and placed it in the one candle holder with glass surrounding it, to protect it. Then he placed his candle in one of the empty spaces in the candlelabra, the others following him. I watched in fascination as those around the room places theres in similar candelabras on small tables around the room. Once all the candles were placed, he picked up a very small midnight blue box. I held my breath, knowing exactly what was in there.

I felt moisture in my eyes as he opened the box, revealing the small silver ring with tiny details.

"This is for you. Yet another piece of us to keep with you always." He held out the ring while one of the other members at his side took it out of the box and placed it on my trembling index finger.

"Thank you…" I whispered, almost completely choked up with emotion.

"Congratulations, Bella, and welcome to the Twilight League."

I beamed as everyone around me echoed him, "Welcome to the Twilight League!" All the members said in union. There was a thunderous round of applause and cheers circling around the room. The four in front of me took turns congratulating me and I couldn't stop smiling widely.

Melanie beamed back at me as she hugged me, "Welcome, Bella!"

"Thank you!

"Alright friends," Josh said loudly, trying to be heard over the noise, to the rest of the hooded members, "It is time to reveal yourselves to our newest member."

I looked around the room as everyone threw back the hoods to their cloaks. Then a very familiar shriek resonated and I turned to see a bouncing Alice Cullen squealing happily standing next to Emmett, Rosalie and Edward. "I KNEW IT!" I yelped laughingly as Edward ran up to me and picked me up in his arms.

"Congratulations, love." He said to me in his perfect silky voice, grinning and kissing my cheek.

As all of my friends circled in closer, I felt happier than I'd ever felt before in my life.

--

* * *

**One more chapter probably and then... fin!**


	61. Elated

The early afternoon sun glistened through my dorm room window, waking me up. Groggily I pried my eyes open to see Edward sleeping soundly beside me. I was nestled into his chest, wrapped up safe and soundly with his arms around me, our hands intertwined. My heart was bursting with something familiar, but magnified a thousand times. I was happy.

It took me a few confused moments to figure out exactly why I was so elated. I mean sure, I was here, next to Edward, and he loved me and I loved him and that was great. But it wasn't until I noticed the gleam of the sun hitting the silver ring on his hand that everything fell into place.

_Oh yea,_ I thought ecstatically, bringing my own right hand out from under me to examine the identical ring still on my index finger, _I made it into the League!_ As the memories of last night flooded my brain, I couldn't stop the brilliant grin spreading from my own ear to the other. _I was in the League!_

Last night had been… oy, there are too many words to describe it; incredible, amazing, enlightening, fun, fantastic, unbelievable… a fairy tale. It was my fairy tale night. _Complete with prince charming and everything_, I thought as I kissed Edward's forehead lightly so as not to wake him. Immediately after my induction (can you believe it? _My_ induction!) I'd been engulfed by a sea of arms as everyone came to hug and congratulate me. There was about an hour of high spirited formal introductions to my new fellow members, all of whom I knew but had never _dreamed_ they'd be involved, including some friends from classes, some people I'd met randomly and talked to on a normal basis. There were about thirty people total in the League, some friends I knew from around campus and even one of the senior girls in my major that had become a bit of a mentor for me was a member; _that_ I never would have suspected. Oh and one more person I almost had a fit when I saw: _Tanya!_

"Surprise!" She'd beamed at me last night as she hugged me tightly, "Congratulations Bella, I'm so glad you made it!"

I was almost lost for words, "Tanya? Seriously?!"

She laughed, "I heard you were 'outing' people right and left. You never suspected me?" She asked as she led me to where everyone was going to take a group picture.

I shook my head, "Never."_ I should've known_, I thought to myself. Looking back on it, she _did _all the right people.

"Don't feel too bad, Bella," Logan said, coming over then and put an arm playfully around her, "She's sneaky, this one." He grinned. Tanya had blushed the minute his arm went around her. I raised my eyebrow and she winked at me. "Group picture time." He said before I had a chance to open my mouth and embarrass them both, "You're in the middle, newbie. Front and center." He'd said to me.

At that point Edward and Alice came up on either side of me and pulled me towards the front and center of the group. I remember hoping I didn't look too cheesy in them but I couldn't stop grinning like an idiot.

_I really hope they turned out alright_, I thought as I snuggled deeper into Edward's chest and continued replaying last night's events in my head. I was right in the center for the photo, Alice to my left and Edward to my right. Emmett and Rose and Jasper were right above/behind me. Josh steadied the camera on the tripod it was on. "Let's get the serious one over with first."

Emmett had sighed behind me and bent down to whisper to me, "We always do a serious one first, its tradition. But if you ask me, it's mostly just a test to see who can hold a straight face the longest."

I bit my lip to squelch the permanent smile on my face, "Oh _crap._ I'm warning you now, if it _is_ a test, I'm going to fail." I'd said to him as Josh made his way back to the lineup saying something about ten seconds left.

Tanya had chimed in then from somewhere on my right as she stood in her 'serious' pose, "Think about something sad. Lost puppies. Starving children. Ruining your favorite shoes."

"Wars," Edward suggested helpfully in his own sober stance. Even _now_ I couldn't contain a smile; I don't know how I'd managed last night. _Oh yea, I remember…_

"Think about homework." Rose added, "That always works for me."

"Formal presentations," Logan had said with a grimace as Josh called five seconds.

Finally Alice chimed in, "Think about the six inch heels you're going to have on when you model my project in front of the entire fashion merchandising department."

I remember feeling the smile fall from my face as shock and horror swept through me. _Click! _The flash of the camera nearly blinded me as I turned to Alice. "What?!"

She turned to me with a grin. "Just kidding! Now for the fun picture." I sighed with relief as Josh went back to the camera and set it up for another one.

I stifled a laugh at the memory. _Sneaky little Alice_. After pictures were over, the party really began. Champagne was passed around and I danced with everyone there. Emmett had insisted on teaching me some of his best John Travolta dance moves saying it was 'official Twilight League business' and every member had to learn. I don't know how I let him convince me but I think the second glass of champagne I had might have had something to do with it. I grimaced now, thinking about the photographic evidence there was of that. I especially remember the pledge I made to the League and how happy I was to make it. I remembered the official tour that a huge group took me on of the League's manor. It was a beautiful and historic looking building, hidden away in the woods. Apparently the manor and the land surrounding it had been donated to the Twilight League by a member in the early 1920s. I tried to remember everything Mel and Alice were telling me about the building itself and some other things, but the champagne was making my memory a bit fuzzy.

I do however distinctly remember a large crash coming from behind one door and the Little Dude bolting into the room when we opened the door. I giggled quietly, thinking back to that. _He really does grow on you_, I thought. The rest of the members had fallen in love with him when we brought him back into the ballroom.

Then, after endless toasts to me and to the League, endless dances, endless laughter and endless congratulations, the sun had finally began its ascent into the dark sky and thus the party ended with a final chant of the League's motto and toast to everlasting friendships and good times.

I beamed happily in bed and couldn't help happily hugging Edward and giving him dozens of soft kisses all over his face and neck. And seriously, what better outlet for all this glee is there?

His face broke into a wide grin before his eyes even opened. "Hello there," his soft velvety voice said to me as his eye lids slowly peeled back, reveling the emerald eyes I loved so much.

"Hi." I whispered happily.

He gazed back tenderly at me for a while before speaking, "I _so_ love waking up to that smile." His fingers slowly traced my hairline down to my jaw.

"I'm _really_ happy right now."

"That's a very good thing." He gave me a fast kiss on the lips, "I can't tell you how relieved I am that the final mission is over."

"You and me both."

He was silent for a few moments; I almost thought he'd fallen back asleep, until his smooth silky voice spoke again, "You know, I think you probably had the farthest journey of anyone in the League, in a matter of speaking."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and stared at the outline of his face in the dark, "How do you mean?"

"Well, before anyone can get accepted, we have to be sure that they're ready for it. You…" he thought for a moment, "yours was difficult to determine, I imagine. You were looking for more, I think." He looked at me lovingly, "It was a really long journey for you. I guess I never thought about just _how_ long. I wasn't involved in the process of planning out your missions, but I'm guessing that's why it went nearly an entire semester."

I felt my face burn a bit, "Doesn't it usually take that long?"

He brought his face to the crook of my neck and placed a soft kiss on my collarbone, "Not usually. The length of the pledge period is really up to the person and where they are, whether they're ready or not… Rosalie's, I heard, took nearly as long as yours, Logan's also, I think. Mine was about a month and so was Alice's. "

I was confused… and I told him so, "I don't understand."

He hugged me closer before beginning his explanation, "See, everyone kinda starts off in the same place when they're approached at first; they're young, naïve and looking for adventure, whether they know it or not. You had to make the jump from searching for a connection to your mother, to accepting an unchartered adventure and then to accepting a new family into your life forever.

It's the leaders who usually analyze the prospective member's state before deciding on the times for the mission. Everyone gets to know the person and gives their input but it's their responsibility to make sure that whoever is pledging is ready for the steps they are about to take."

"How?"

"That's what the tasks are basically for. But at the same time, we want what's best for our members. Remember? We all look out for each other." He took a few silent moments to kiss me again, "I don't think you realize how far you came in just a few short months." Another lingering kiss, "You were cautious… extremely so, with your emotions and your trust. You had such a heavy cross to bear, I think. You barely opened yourself up to Alice at first or me. The League had to make sure that you were emotionally ready for the journey ahead. For your well being as well as the League's."

"But how did they—, how did _you_ know?"

I felt his lips turn into a smile against my neck, "_They_ saw the difference in you sometime near spring break… the big change came after the memorial service, remember? … The load was lighter, so to speak," he hesitated and I nodded. "_I_ never needed any proof; I knew you were League material close to the beginning of the year. We were just waiting for you to move on from whatever was holding you back. And you have. You've put it behind you."

I guess he was right, my past _was_ behind me, and my future was shining and bright in front of me. It was the obsession with my mom that brought about my initial involvement with the League; one event being a catalyst for the other. Somehow, with their help, I'd opened up along the way. And though I was thrilled, I still felt a little weird.

Before I could think too much about it, Edward spoke. "So, how do you feel?"

My smile grew as I thought about the events of last night again. "My cheeks hurt from smiling so much last night."

He closed his eyes and leaned his head closer to mine, "I'll make them better," he whispered before kissing my cheeks softly, over and over again.

"Mmm…" I mumbled blissfully, "I could get used to this,"

I felt his lips turn up in a smile as they moved to my earlobe, "Anything else hurt?" He murmured softly as he softly bit the soft skin of my earlobe, "I'm only here to help…"

I stifled a moan, "Hmm, well…"

But I couldn't finish telling him because at that precise moment, there was an escalated argument going on in the hall. We recognized the voices as they got louder and louder until the door to my dormitory burst open.

"Rosalie!" Edward and I groaned at the same time, pulling the covers up.

Rosalie's face was a livid red color. She looked like a tomato with a blond wig… a very _angry_ tomato. A very angry tomato carrying a tiny orange and white baby fox in her hands. "Take him!" she commanded and dumped him on our bed.

Emmett came running in after her, "Albert!" He said, making his way towards the Little Dude.

"Albert?" Edward asked sarcastically as I took the fox in my hands and cradled him, petting his little head affectionately.

"Well he needs a name… Albert is as good as any." Emmett's face twinged red.

"Here's a name for him," Rosalie spat out angrily, "How about Pain in the Ass? Or spawn of Satan?! Huh?! You like that?!"

Emmett turned angrily towards Rosalie, "It's not _his_ fault your face cream smells like berries and stuff, how was he supposed to know it wasn't food?"

"Um, maybe after the first lick didn't _taste_ like berries?!" She yelled, "And then he goes and throws it all up in my shoe! My _Givenchy_ _shoe,_ Emmett!"

"OK, that could've happened to anyone, and I personally think he was doing you a favor. Those shoes were all speckled with funky colors, so they kind of already looked thrown up on, babe. _And_ they had that weird strappy thing in the front. I mean, what's that about?" Emmett reasoned. "So really Rose, you should be thanking him."

We were all silent for a few eerie seconds. Emmett clearly had no idea what he'd just done because while Rose's eyes widened even more and her nostrils flared, he was the perfect picture of calm.

I braced myself for the tirade that was about to befall Emmett, cowering into Edward and away from Rose's inevitable combustion. "I think it's too late for Emmett…" I whispered to Edward who clamped his lips together to stop from laughing and held me and Albert closer.

"Emmett…" Rosalie began slowly and menacingly. Her voice was just above a whisper, a hostile rumble before the onslaught of the storm. "Did you just insult my taste in shoes?"

The serene look on Emmett's face fell instantly. "No—,"

"I let that thing in my room. I put up with you playing with it half the night. I didn't say anything when you started talking baby talk to the damn thing. And then, after that, you still let that thing on my _bed_ after I fall asleep. And look!" Her voice had risen to atomic level as she pointed angrily at her own face.

"What?" Emmett said innocently, "You look beautiful, as always…" he waited while Rosalie breathed heavily glaring at him, undoubtedly about to erupt again. Rosalie remained silent, breathing heavily through her nose, and I was surprised smoke wasn't coming out of her nostrils on the exhale. When she didn't say anything he tried a different approach. He held his arms out and mumbled a sweet, lovey-dovey "I love you."

"Oh, get off me you big oaf!" She pushed his arms away and stalked towards Edward and me on the bed. "Look!" Her voice cracked, "Look what that _thing_ did to me!" She gestured at her face again and as she stepped closer to the sunlight coming in from the slits in the blinds, I gasped.

"Oh my Gosh, Rosalie!" Her face, I noticed, wasn't just red from anger. There was clearly a very large rash on her beautiful face. It ran from her temples down to her chin on both sides of her face and her eyes were two swollen, puffy red slits in her face. I gave Albert to Edward and jumped off the bed. "What happened?!" I asked as I moved closer to her.

Tears started leaking out of her tiny red eyes and her voice became thick and wobbly, "It maimed me!" She sobbed, bringing her hands to cover her face. "It's all his stupid fault!" She yelled pointing at Emmett. "He let that stupid, demon fox ruin my face!"

"Oh my gosh, Rosalie you're allergic to him!"

Edward's face contorted into disgust, "_That's_ an understatement."Edward looked Albert over, "How do you feel, Albert? You aren't allergic to the big blonde tomato, are you?" He ran his fingers mockingly through Albert's fur, checking his skin for a rash too.

I had to physically body block Rosalie as she lunged for Edward with a guttural growl as Edward jumped off the bed and sped away from her, Albert cradled in his hands. "Rose! Not the solution. NOT THE SOLUTION!" _Who knew Rose was so strong?!_ "Calm down Rose, physical violence isn't the answer here."I insisted evenly as I looked her over."Gosh, I'm so sorry about this."

"It's not your fault," she cried, "It's this idiot's!" She jerked her thumb at Emmett who was now blocking his little brother and the Little Dude with his own body. She glared at the three of them.

I bit back a laugh and morphed into problem solving mode, "OK, Rosalie, go into my bathroom and take a shower. I'll bring you a towel and clothes that haven't been contaminated. Edward, Emmett, you two have to get the Little—, I mean, _Albert_, out of here." I told them as I ushered Rosalie into the bathroom. "And Emmett, it'd be good of you to clean up whatever mess _Albert_ made in her room before she gets out the shower."

Emmett sulked but nodded, "What am I supposed to do with him?"

I sighed and took Albert from Edward, hugging him close, "I think it might be time for him to go back to his home." He sniffed my hand sweetly and I was instantly sad to see him go, "Thanks for everything, Little Dude. Don't be a stranger, OK?"

Emmett's jaw dropped and he scooped Albert back into his arms, "No way! His home is here! We can't ditch him! He's family!"

Edward shook his head his brother with a look of mixed awe and disbelief on his lovely face. "He's a wild animal, Emmet. He belongs in the woods."

While Emmett and Edward argued over what to do with him, Alice walked into the room. "Hiya!" She sang happily as she came over and hugged me, "And congrats again, Bella!" I couldn't help a delighted squeal as I hugged her back. "What's going on here?"

Edward was the one to fill her in, "Rose has an allergic reaction to Albert here and Emmett doesn't want to set him free."

"He _is_ free!" Emmett argued, "This is his home."

That's when Rosalie's voice was heard from the other side of the bathroom door, "Emmett Cullen! If you don't take that thing back to wherever it came from, I swear I'll kick your sorry—,"

"ALRIGHT ALREADY!" Emmett hollered back before leaving the room with Albert safely in his arms, "Come on, Alby," he cooed, "let's go find you somewhere a little more permanent to stay. You like it here don't you? Don't you, Alby?..." His voice trailed off as he disappeared down the hall.

Alice, Edward and I had identical looks of shock and amusement frozen on our faces. "Alby?" Alice asked with a giggle.

"Oh don't get me started!" Rose called through the bathroom door.

Edward pulled me into a hug and kissed my cheek, "I better go make sure he doesn't try to hide him in the closet or anything."

"I'm gonna miss him." I admitted as I hugged him back, "He's been through a lot with me."

"We'll set him free in the woods right by here, so maybe you'll see him again." And with that, he kissed me goodbye and went after his brother.

I sighed happily and turned to find Alice holding out a bottle of anti-bacterial lotion. "This is so we don't contaminate anything else." I put some on and went to find some clothes and a towel for Rosalie. "So how do you feel?"

I spun around to face her with a huge grin on my face, "Happy." I said automatically, "Actually, that's an understatement. I'm thrilled! Elated! Positively ecstatic!"

Alice laughed, "I'm glad. Me too actually. You had me worried for a while."

"You and me both." I said with a smile. I _had_ been really worried. I'd been worried for a long time. The thought simmered in my brain for a bit. I was so used to worrying… or working towards something. It was the odd feeling that came once you got everything you ever wanted…

_What now?_

I was happy. _Finally_ happy. But there was something lingering in the background.

I left some clothes and a towel in the bathroom for Rosalie, telling her she could use my robe if she wanted, and went about making my bed, removing anything that little Albert may have touched, for fear of activating her severe allergic reaction again. When I was getting new linens in one of my drawers, I stumbled upon the box with the Twilight League letters again. It was right next to the album that Carlisle and Esme Cullen had given me.

Gingerly, I picked up the album and fingered through it again, smiling and gazing lovingly at one particular picture of my mother and grandmother sitting with toddler me. Through no fault of my own, tears sprang into my eyes.

"Something wrong?" Rosalie asked as she came out of the bathroom, misreading my sniff.

I shook my head and smiled, "No, nothing's wrong. Everything's good…" I stared at the picture. "Everything's perfect."

"You sure?" Alice came over to me and looked me over carefully.

I nodded, "Pretty sure… it just feels weird, you know?" I put the album away.

"What does?"

"Not having anything to worry about. Something Edward said this morning has me thinking. He said that after my mom's memorial service it was like a had a weight off my shoulders. And it's true, it's just… I didn't have a lot of time to dwell on it, what with League stuff and all. But now, I do, I feel lighter. It's just weird… and a little sad. But in a good way, you know?" I looked at Alice and Rose, wondering if they got any of that. "Am I making any sense?"

Alice smiled kindly, "Of course you are. But Bella, this is the way it _should_ be. This is the happy ending part. You _should_ be happy. She would _want_ you to move on and live happily, don't you think?"

Rosalie tightened my aquamarine robe around herself and put an arm around me, "Yeah, Bella, just because you're not dragging this sadness around with you anymore doesn't mean you have to forget about her. In fact—," she turned to Alice, "Hey, can you go in my room and grab my prom picture?"

Alice rolled her eyes, "Oh, Rose, does _everything_ have to go back to your stupid prom? Yes, I know you looked good, yes I know you had fun. Yes, I know you were prom queen, blah blah blah, but come on, there's a time and a _place_ for—,"

"That's not what I want it for, ding dong," Rose snapped, "Can you just go grab it for me? I can't go back in there until I'm sure there are no more fox germs." Alice smiled sheepishly and nodded, heading out the door. Once she was gone, Rose turned back to me, "But now that she mentioned it, I _did_ get voted prom queen, that dress _was_ incredible and I _did_ look amazing. Not that I'll ever look that way again, since that stupid foxed _ruined_ my face."

I looked her over, "It's OK, Rose, your eyes are already a lot less red and puffy than they were. The rash is still there, but I have Benadryl and that should lessen the allergic reaction. And if it doesn't, you and Alice will cover it up with make-up and no one will notice." I said as soothingly as possible.

Alice came back with the gorgeous metal and crystal frame in her hand. "Here ya go."

"Thanks," Rosalie took it from her and immediately turned it around and began fumbling with it. "Bella, I need that family photo album of yours and the Benadryl."

Alice looked confused, "What do you need that for?"

"Um, hello, dummy, I have a giant rash on my face."

"Not the Benadryl, idiot, the album!" Alice snapped back.

"Oh, that. You'll see."

I left them to their bickering and went to the bathroom to get Rosalie's medicine. When I came back out Rosalie had replaced her beloved prom photo with the picture of me, my mother and my grandmother sitting together and was arranging it on my bedside table. "Oh, Rose…"

"Don't." Rosalie interrupted. "I have other places to put my prom picture. _This_ picture, however, is important. Now where's that Benadryl?" Fighting back touched tears, I handed her the small bottle. "Thanks. Now is this going to put me to sleep and if so, I'm taking over one of your beds." And with that, she went back into the bathroom.

--

* * *

A few hours later, we were in our room, having one of our 'getting ready' sessions. We played a movie, which Rose slept through, did our nails (I didn't want to, but they insisted since my hands got ruined in the woods yesterday).

"What time is the meeting again?" My first ever Twilight League meeting is tonight. I can't put into words how excited I am.

"Seven-thirty." Alice said as she was applying make up on Rosalie whose face was almost back to normal. "OK, Rosalie, you're wearing about three pounds of cover up. That rash is as invisible as its going to get tonight. "

"Ugh! I hate that damn creature!" She stood up from her chair and stared obsessively into the little mirror on Alice's desk. "Bella, I hope you know that I may never forgive you for bringing him into my life. When are you going to start getting dressed? We have to leave in half an hour."

I was comfortably on my bed, skimming over the recent issue of _Architectural Digest_, "Alice has already picked out my outfit. All I have to do is put it on and I'm ready."

I could _feel_ Alice rolling her eyes, "Don't worry," she said to Rosalie, "I have it under control. So, Bella, are you nervous?"

"No." I lied. OK, I admit, I was a little nervous about the meeting. First of all, you have to dress up, which is reason enough for me to freak out. I'm going to be in heels. Black, shiny pointed heels with a single elegant strap holding it in place. And then this skirt that I'm wearing is silk. _Silk! _In fact, almost my whole outfit is silk. Let me tell you, I'm not looking forward to having dinner in this outfit. I'm bound to spill something on it. Oh didn't I mention? The meetings are held _after_ an elegant dinner. And my shirt is white! "Alice, is there any chance I can negotiate on the shoes with you?"

"Bella! No, they're perfect!"

"Sheesh, alright calm down."

Rosalie laughed, "Don't worry, there's nothing to be nervous about. You know all of us. We get together all the time."

"Yea, but not _officially_," I mumbled. And then I remembered something. "Hey, I have a question for you, Rose. Edward said your pledge period lasted a while. Why?"

Alice grinned, "That's a _long_ story."

Rose tried to look serious, but couldn't manage it. "The short version is that I wasn't so focused on the League part for a while… I kinda thought Emmett was cheating on me, since he was already in it. You know how it is when you're pledging, you have to sneak off some times and stuff. Well you go off even more when you're _in_ the League. So naturally, I suspected foul play." She grinned guiltily, "I might have overreacted a bit… but hey, that's me. Anyway, the time came for my second task. I went on the mission and it was the one where you had to steal the thing from the safe with the old security guard who would lose his job if you did, remember? And you know how they purposely make it hard on you?" She asked and I nodded, "Well I said 'Fine!' and I knocked hard on the door to the building, making the League members think I was going to steal it."

I gasped, "Rose, you didn't!"

She shook her head, "Of course not. I don't know what made me do it, probably that I was still angry about Emmett but when the old man out came out and asked me what I wanted I told him to be quick and call the police. Then I pointed to the black SUV and told him that there were suspicious characters in there who I overheard talking about stealing something from the building."

I felt my jaw drop, "NO! Did he call the police?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. After that, I walked right past the SUV and began to walk back to campus."

"Oh my gosh!" My eyes were wide, "Rosalie!"

"Anyway," she continued, "when they followed me and rolled down the window, I threw their 'instructions' back at them and told them exactly where they could put them," she said with a laugh. "Then I yelled at them for being inconsiderate jerks and told them that if that's what it took to be part of their secret society then they could bite me. And I told them to leave me alone or I would call the cops myself."

"Did you?!" I asked.

"No, they revealed the truth about the mission and after a lot of reasoning, I got back in the car."

I laughed, "Rosalie! Wow, I wish I had your guts."

"Oh just wait," Alice chimed in, "tell her what happened next!" She said to Rosalie.

"There's more?!"

"Yes," Rosalie said, "as you know, the reward for successfully passing the second task is that you get to ask five questions. They won't answer them if they can't but they have to if it isn't dangerous."

"What did you ask?"

"Well, I asked why they picked me, but I guess everyone asks that. I asked how well they knew me. I asked who the hell they thought they were to mess with my head like that and then yelled at them for breaking and entering into my room to deposit the letters,"

"Rosalie!" I laughed again, "What did they say?"

She chuckled, "They laughed and promised that they'd never gone into any of my personal belongings," she stopped to think for a bit, "I don't know, Bells, I guess my pledge time took longer for the same reason yours did; they had to be sure I was ready and not just doing it because I was angry at my boyfriend or something." I nodded, understanding the inner workings of the League… finally, it seemed. "Bella!" Rosalie scolded, making me jump out of bed, "We have to leave in twenty minutes, you're the only one that's not even dressed yet. Get your butt in gear, lady!"

--

* * *

An hour and a half later we were waiting for the boys in front of Jasper's apartment. The meeting was right upstairs. Seriously, did someone in the League own the building or something? I'd have to find out soon. "Alice, how did I let you talk me into wearing this?" I asked as I fidgeted with my hair and checked to make sure the neckline wasn't too low for the millionth time.

Before she could answer, Edward opened the door and let us in. The second our eyes met, my favorite crooked smile appeared on his face. "You look beautiful." He said as I hugged him.

I immediately felt better, "Thank you." I kissed him.

Alice cleared her throat behind me, "And what are we? Chopped liver?"

Edward laughed and turned to them, "You guys look great, as always."

"Thank you," Rosalie said, satisfied with his answer. "Is the creature gone for good?"

Edward laughed, "yeah, he's gone." He turned to me, "You'll be happy to know that we before we let Albert go, we took him into the woods and fed him in this one spot. We'll keep putting food there for him, so hopefully he'll remember to go back and check there once in a while. That way you can visit him if you want."

I smiled, "That's good, thanks."

"Jasper talked Emmett out of putting a collar and a tracking device on him." Rosalie rolled her eyes while Alice and I laughed.

"Emmett and Jasper will be out in a second. Bella and I will get the elevator." He led me out of the apartment with a strong hand on the small of my back.

When we were waiting for the elevator I finally tore my eyes away from his face long enough to notice his outfit. We matched. He had on black slacks and a white shirt with a silk silver tie. "You look amazing," I said, fingering his tie.

"Right back at you, gorgeous." He smiled. "I can't take credit for this… Alice picked it out."

"Alice picks out your clothes too?! I thought I was the only one."

"I'm usually pretty good about getting out of it, but she went on and on about wanting us to match and it being your first meeting and all. Finally I agreed just to get her to shut up." He pulled me in for a hug and held me tightly. "Are you ready for your first meeting?" He said as the doors to the elevator opened.

"Kinda," I said as he led me into the elevator, "I'm a little nervous."

Before he could answer we heard Emmett's booming voice, "Hey hold the elevator!"

Edward held the door open as Jasper, Alice, Emmett and Rosalie rushed in. Once we were all in, he pushed the button for the top floor. "Really, Bella, relax. You'll be fine."

"You do remember all those moves I taught you right, Bella?" Emmett asked, his arms tightly wrapped around Rosalie's waist. "Didn't Edward tell you there is always dancing at these dinners?"

Rosalie elbowed him in the gut, "Ignore the big idiot behind me, there isn't any dancing, relax."

Edward felt me tense up in his arms. "There's nothing to be nervous about," he said soothingly, "you're among family now, pretty much."

I nodded happily, "Yea… I think I'm starting to get that now."

--


	62. Epilogue

_**The Following Year**_

That _better_ not be a bear. Or a dear. Or anything else. Trembling slightly, I stood up from the large, flat rock I was sitting on in the middle of the woods and held the lantern up higher.

"Hello?" I called out. Why do I put myself in these situations? _Why_? I could've stayed in my apartment, in my room and written it there, but no, I had to come here to get 'inspired'. And did it even work? OK, yes it did work, but still, I should've figured something else out.

Something shook in the trees.

"Hello?" I called again, taking a step backwards and preparing to run.

And then I heard it.

"Logan, knock it off and get over here, these bags aren't filled with air!" Emmett's voice came somewhere in front of me.

"What's wrong, superman?" A laughing Logan responded from somewhere in the trees, "Losing your powers?"

Sighing with relief, I put down the lantern and walked a little ways onto the path where the rest of the Twilight League was coming towards the meeting ground, dressed in black clothes to blend into the darkness, although the silver pocket watch/compasses were visible around everyone's neck upon closer inspection and they were carrying various materials. "Nice try," I said to Logan, "But I knew it was you."

He grinned, "Liar." I shrugged and helped them with their load. "Did you get the fire started?"

I blushed, "Well, I tried, but it turns out I don't know how to use flint."

Everyone chuckled. "Yea, that's why you're supposed to use a lighter and lighter fluid."

My humiliation took a back seat to my confusion, "I thought the whole point was to recreate the first meeting of the Twilight League!"

"Yes, but there's no need to torture ourselves by doing things the hard way," Edward said, coming towards me and giving me a hug. "Did you finish?"

I nodded as we reached the meeting ground, "Yes, but next time, I'm just going to do it in the manor or something. The woods creep me out." Two of the members immediately started on the bonfire while everyone else spread out among the revered meeting ground and began unloading things; marshmallows, sticks, champagne bottles, etc. Once I greeted everyone, Edward and I went forward to where I left my stuff and sat down. "Where are Alice and Jasper?"

"Dropping off food for Albert, since _someone _insisted on it." He said pointedly toward Emmett's general direction as we went to sit down on a large flat rock near my stuff.

"Again?"

He rolled his eyes, "I don't have the heart to tell him it's probably not Albert that keeps eating the stuff."

Rosalie came over next to us, handing us sticks with marshmallows. "It's been a year, I don't think he remembers."

Emmett took a seat next to Rose, "Of course he does, he loves us. Anyway, they left before us; they should be here by now. Maybe we should go check on them."

"Give them a few minutes, they'll get here." I said, "They probably just want to spend a few extra minutes alone."

"In the _woods?_" Edward said, popping a marshmallow into his mouth.

Rosalie defended the couple, "They haven't been alone since he proposed, give them a break." As we were talking the fire had been started, the champagne had started to flow and everyone was gathered around waiting for the proceedings to commence. The sky was darkening, but from the light of the bonfire, we could see two figures stepping into the meeting ground. "Speak of the devils."

There was applause and cheers from the group as the two came forward. "Congrats you two!" Someone called. Jasper had proposed to Alice yesterday on a date and as soon as they got back we had an impromptu party in their honor. It still took some getting used to, I mean, they're _engaged!_ Weird, huh? I'm barely mature enough to vote, imagine being engaged. I'm surprised Jasper was able to keep it a secret for so long. Thank goodness Rosalie is so nosy or we wouldn't have known until _after_ he did it and then we wouldn't have been able to put together a congratulatory party.

The yellow diamond ring glittered in the firelight as the two came towards us. "What took you guys so long?" Emmett blurted out when they got close enough.

They blushed but didn't answer, so I decided to save them, "Jasper I have a favor to ask you." I got up, taking a crisp parchment envelope with me. "Can you check this over before you put it in the vault thing? Make sure I didn't give anything away or sound too silly?"

"Sure thing." He nodded and took it from me, "You know you have another year and some to finish this one and the others."

"Yea, but it felt like the right time. If I waited, I'd just forget what I wanted to say." I left him and went to sit by Alice and Rose who haven't been able to talk about dress styles since last night. "Don't you think you're getting ahead of everything? I thought you'd planned on a really long engagement."

Alice rolled her eyes, "Bella, haven't I taught you anything? The right dress takes ages to find and order and get right. Three years is hardly enough time. And after we find mine, then we'll have to find Rose's and yours and Tanya's and Mel's… I might have to extend it to four years."

I smiled. Despite the craziness of her comment, I was honored when she'd asked me to be a bridesmaid. Rosalie will be her maid of honor and Jasper asked Emmett to be best man, which works out perfectly. Actually, don't think he planned on asking him quite so soon, but since Emmett wasn't thrilled with the idea of his little sister getting engaged as a college sophomore, it suddenly became the perfect time. No one was surprised when Alice began planning her wedding during their party.

One year later, I'm having the time of my life. Edward and I are still going strong, and while Alice and I snuggled on the couch in our apartment last night after the party, I kind of admitted that I see myself heading in a similar direction with Edward. For the record, I blame the flowing booze for that little tid bit slipping out.

The boys, who had joined some of those who were setting stuff up for the traditional bonfire, came over with champagne for us. "Please tell you're not talking about dresses again," Edward said, catching the end of the conversation.

Alice rolled her eyes and ignored her brother, "Are we starting soon? Jasper, you'd better get over there."

He nodded, "I will. We still have a few minutes I think." But at that precise moment, Logan cleared his throat and prepared to address the group. "Woops, maybe not."

As Jasper went front and center with the other two leaders, we all gathered around the now roaring fire in a circle, ready for the night to begin.

Logan began to speak as everyone quieted down, "Almost two centuries ago, in this very spot, our ancestors snuck out into the night, meeting in secret and unknowingly creating our sacred group. Tonight we band together once more to commemorate…" He continued and I let my mind wander for just a second as I took in the scene around me. Here we were, my family and I, hidden in the night, the full moon shining above us and the roaring fire in front. The old, huge trees set in a circle around the campsite, making its age and momentous history stand out. It's hard not to feel the significant when you're standing here. Drawing my attention back to our one of our leaders, I listen to the rest of Logan's speech and prepared for another traditional and powerful Twilight League event.

--

* * *

--

--

_To my darling descendant,_

_I can't put into words what an honor it is to be writing this to you now when not so long ago, I was sitting in exactly the same position, anxious, excited and just a little bit intimidated. Worry not my loved one, you would certainly not be reading this if you weren't clever, courageous and brilliantly altruistic._

_I imagine you must be a bit overwhelmed right now and I'm sure you have so many questions you want answered such as exactly what the is Twilight League, what they're all about and why they have brought you here. Unfortunately, those are answers I can not give at this time, but what I can tell you is that my time spent in this organization has been filled with love, laughter and adventure and is one I value a great deal. Here I've had experiences that will remain with me forever and met people whom I can't ever see myself living without. I know that the friendships I've made here, will last me a lifetime. _

_Now comes the time for you to decide whether or not you wish to go down the same road I did not so long ago (for me, anyhow. To you it must be much longer). If you do choose to pledge, know that it will not be an easy undertaking. You will be tested in the most unexpected ways and will learn things about yourself you never knew existed. Through this exciting and challenging journey I found an inner strength I never imagined I could possess. That is the same strength that I am certain resides in you as well. Don't be afraid of what's to come, my love. To quote my grandmother, who is one of the most significant influences in my life, "It's the unexpected events, the people you meet and the friends you make along the journey that make life worthwhile." The friends that I have made here I now consider my family, and I will treasure them forever._

_At this point I'm willing to bet that your mind is buzzing with uncertainties but remember that uncovering the mystery is part of the fun! If you choose to continue all your questions will be answered in due time. Be patient. Don't worry so much;, the answers will always be there if you know where to look._

_If you decide not to continue on this path, I wish you the best and I hope your time at this school will be filled with fun, laughter, learning and everlasting memories. I don't know who you are (yet, I hope) but know that I am so proud of you for having made it this far. May you have a wonderful life. Whatever you may choose, my heart and prayers will be with you. I leave you now with wise words also written to me by my grandmother. Keep them in your mind, for they are truly words to live by:_

_Be Safe_

_Be Strong_

_Be Brave!_

_All my undying love,_

_Bella Swan Hayden _

_--_

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**Fin**

**Thank you so much to everyone for your patience and your amazing reviews. A very special thanks to two very important people without whom this would've never been done. :)**


	63. Note

**Just wanted to let everyone know that I'll be posting a new story shortly, I think in the next coupld of hours actually. Thanks again for all the great reviews on Meyer Univeristy.**

**A special thanks the two who kept pushing for updates. You know who you are :) Thanks Bobo! Bobo and I have been left orphans... where oh where has mom gone? Lol. If you're out there, we miss you!**

**Oh and one more thing: I've been getting PMs about stories out there that are copies of mine... if you see one, please PM me and let me know the name and the author and I will deal with it IMMEDIATELY. Copyright rules are crystal clear people, be warned.**


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